


Twilight Moonbeams

by Kittylin15



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst and Humor, Auror Harry, M/M, Weasley Family, Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2016-12-30
Packaged: 2018-02-20 21:58:48
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 72,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2444648
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kittylin15/pseuds/Kittylin15
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Since the ministry had confiscated the Malfoy vaults Draco was required to find a job though no one would hire him. After saving him from an altercation in Knockturn Ally George Weasley offers him a job at the joke shop as a potion master. Harry doesn't approve and checks in often to make sure that Malfoy is not up to something.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intro

**Author's Note:**

> This is a story I've been working on for a little bit. I started out as a one shot but then I went over 15 000 words so I decided to make it a chapter story since it has a taken a life of its own. After I broke it up I have 12 chapters so far but it might extend to more.
> 
> Since they are having a Harry Potter marathon on the space channel I decided to post it for Thanks Giving. I thought it was a sign.
> 
> I named this story after a love potion that Weasley Wizard Wheezes makes. Harry will show up in the second chapter so don't worry. This is a Draco/Harry slash and a George/Draco friendship.
> 
> I've drawn some images to go along with this and posted it on my brand new LiveJournal. So far I just have character painting of Draco and Harry, There will be more up soon. Check it out.  
> http://kittylin-1506.livejournal.com/

_o0o_

_It was a year since the end of the war. Potter had managed to keep him out of Azkaban but that didn't mean that Draco's life was all sunshine and rainbows._

_The ministry had swooped in and confiscated all the Malfoy vaults for war reparations. They allowed his mother and himself to keep the manor but it had been left in ruin from the Death Eaters who had been inhabiting it during the war. They had been trapped in it for a year while under house arrest. That year had been boring to the extreme. They got allowance for food and that was it because they didn't want them spending it on material items._

_Only a couple days after their house arrest ended they received a letter about how they were required to pay rent. The manor had been paid off for centuries. They concluded that the ministry was just allowing them to live there._

_Now that they were able to function in society again the ministry completely cut them off from access to their vaults. It left them in an impossible situation. His mother was pushing fifty and had not a job to her name. The only thing Draco thought she would be qualified for was a party planner but who would want to hire her._

_His mother decided they should sell the manor and use what money they could get to skip the country. Draco hated to admit it but she was right. There was no way that they could support themselves living in the manor. They were desperate enough to need the money that badly._

_Draco refused to leave Britain though with his tail between his legs. He was going to make a new name for himself even if he had to work from the very bottom up._

_Sadly with its dark history the manor was only offered a small sum for its spacious land and grand building. His mother in her desperation to escape the oppression of Britain accepted the offer readily. They got a steal in Draco's opinion._

_After the money was split evenly between them Draco was left only enough money to rent a room at the Leaky Cauldron for a few months or two. It wasn't much but it would have to do. 'Hopefully he would be employed soon' Draco thought optimistically._

_._

_They stood in the middle of Draco's dingy hotel room above the tavern. After the Manor had been sold they had to vacate the premises immediately._

" _Are you sure you won't come with me?" Narcissa asked her son. She was all packed to leave with what she couldn't live without. The international port key to a small town in the French country side was sitting on the table between them._

" _I'm not going to run away." Draco denied her offer._

_Narcissa smiled tightly at her son and wished him luck in his pursuits. Then she touched the boot and disappeared._

_Draco was left alone._

_.o._

_The first month Draco didn't have much luck._

_Getting hired for a job was a lot harder than he thought it would be. He tried a few places in Diagon Ally but the reactions he received from his last name were harsh._

_He knew it would be likely he could get nowhere on the main strip so freshly from the war. The Malfoy name was as good as dirt now a days. As soon as they heard his last name he was forcefully removed from most shops._

_If he was brave he enough he would venture out into the muggle world. His father had never let him take Muggle Studies at Hogwarts though. He would be completely lost._

_._

_When Draco returned to the Leaky in the evening unsuccessful once again. He noticed a large group of his former class mates drinking. Tom was serving out fire Whiskey and Butter Beer. Amongst them he noticed the messy hair of one Harry Potter._

_Draco hid behind a post and watched them. He was surprised he hadn't ran into anybody sooner. They were so care free. Draco had more to worry about than his past rivalry with the savor of the wizarding world._

_Flipping his hood up to hide his hair, Draco tried to slip up to his room without any of them noticing him._

_A pair of green speckled eyes followed his movement up the stairs._

_._

_The next day Draco finally reached the final straw._

_One of the shop owner said he would hire him if he got down on his knees and begged. Draco knew what the man was actually asking; if he sucked his dick he'd hire him for this shitty job. Turning on his heel Draco walked straight back out the door. He knew that if you had to give a blow job to get a job, you had to continue giving them to keep it too._

_Draco decided he better off where the scum of the earth was even accepted… Knockturn Ally._

_.o._

_Surprisingly Draco was received in a similar light there too; badly._

_His father had connections with all of them. After Lucius' infinite return to Azkaban they wanted to distance themselves as much as possible from the Malfoy family. The old crone who ran The Ye Old Curiosity Shop at least offered him a cup of tea before she kicked Draco out on his ass._

_He didn't even bother with Borgin and Burkes knowing he'd be turned away after the way he threatened Mr. Burgin during his mission in sixth year. He'd been a fool back then thinking because he was marked he was all powerful. How he'd fallen._

_Both the light and the dark didn't want Draco hanging around. Everyone else marked with the dark mark was either in Azkaban or dead. Everyone was afraid they would be connected to Voldemort if they hired him._

_In a last ditch effort he tried Slug and Jiggers apothecary._

… **o0o…**

A bell rang when Draco entered the shop. The shelves were stocked with all sorts of ingredients. He was sure these ones were all legal while the darker ingredients would be kept in the back hidden away so that aurors couldn't find them.

A man emerged from the back room. He was very short and round with not much hair on his head to speak of. "What do you want?" Mr. Jigger snapped when he saw the Malfoy heir standing in the middle of his shop.

"I'm here to require about procuring a job?" Draco answered and asked at the same time. He could see the man's demeanor change when he realized what he wanted. He would take a Malfoy's money but he wouldn't hire one.

"No." Mr. Jigger snapped.

"I'm really good with potions. I promise. I received high NEWT marks on the subject." Draco pleaded the man who frown at him with his crooked teeth. Studying for his Newts was the only thing that kept him sane through his house arrest.

"We don't want your kind here." Mr. Jiggers pushed him towards the exit to his shop. Once Draco was on the other side the man slammed the door in his face. Flipping the sign from opened to closed for good measure.

'You know you've hit rock bottom when even Knockturn Ally snubs you.' Draco thought to himself with a deep sigh. He turned away from the shops stoop, he walked away with defeat. 'That had been his last option' He thought in despair. His option had looked bleak before but now they were nonexistent.

His head down looking at the dirty cobble stones he didn't notice the person standing in his path. Since the man was much larger than he was he bounced off and fell to the ground. Draco sighed deeply in despair. 'He thought this day couldn't get better' He thought sarcastically. His robes were soaked through from a puddle, it was the last good robe he'd had. His life couldn't get much worse.

"You ok?" A man asked who had stepped around the giant man Draco had walked into. He was wearing blue velvet robes and a wide brimmed hat with a peacock feather sticking out of it. He looked a little shifty but it was Knockturn Ally what did you expect? The man offered him a hand up with a smirk that the blonde accepted warily.

Draco was tugged back up on two feet. "Thank you." Whispered self-consciously to the man. He tried to brush his robes off but he figured it was useless. When he noticed the man still stood there staring intently at him he shifted uncomfortably. "Yes, can I help you?"

"You're the young Malfoy heir aren't you?" The man asked gesturing to his distinct hair colour.

Draco ran his fingers through his now messy hair self-consciously, he could feel wetness in it. He was sure he looked a fright with his wet robes and dirty hair. "Yeah what's it too you?" He asked defensively with his arms crossed. It was hard to tell how this man felt about his family.

"I couldn't help overhearing your plight boy." The man slid his arm around the blonde's shoulders. "My names Badrik Bernatch. If you need a job I can help you." Badrik gestured to a building not too far away. It had two large statues of lions with women's heads framing the entrance.

"The horror house. No way!" Draco flung the man's arm off of him. He knew The Sphinxes' Riddle was famous in the wizarding world. All the politicians went there. Even his father had admitted to paying a few visits when his mother was pregnant with him. They mostly supplied women but there was a small section in the back that catered to other urges. "I haven't fallen that far to resort to selling my body." Draco snapped appalled at the mere suggestion.

"Are you sure. You'd do very well and attract many clients." Badrik licked his lips as he looked the young man over. Stock of his caliber was very hard to come by. The boy's slender build and long legs were very appealing and the telltale white blonde hair of the Malfoy lineage would have many a man flock to him just for the privilege to say that they had a taste of the boys flesh. ~

o0o

_Weasley Wizard Wheezes_

The doors to the successful joke shop were still locked even a year after the war. It took a long time for George to stop grieving for the loss of his brother but after the one year anniversary of Fred's death and the final battle; he decided it was time to re-open the shop at last.

When he had finally got the courage to check out the shop George had been devastated at the destruction it had gone through.

He had to restock the shop before he would be able to reopen the doors. It had been looted during the war so many of the products were severely damaged or stolen. For the time being he only had the mail orders open and not the shop front. Offering the products he could scavenge up.

At the moment George Weasley was in the back work room of the shop trying to brew a new stock of skiving snack box potions. Since they were their best selling product it was hard to keep them on the shelves. At the moment the shop held a stock of zero.

He was in a dire need to finish a new batch. George had orders piling up that he couldn't keep up with the demand for.

George was on the verge of talking to himself as he worked. He was a social butterfly and he didn't do well by himself. When you had to share your womb even with someone it felt unnatural to be alone. Fred used to go everywhere with him.

It was a two person job for most of their products. They had a system down that Fred would brew the potions and he would cast the charms. It had always worked for them. They flew through production quickly doing it that way.

This was one of the many reasons he missed Fred since he usually handled the potion part of their joke shop business.

He hated to admit to himself but George had to hire someone to help with production or he would never be able to reopen in the near future. Potions didn't come naturally to him like they had to Fred. It was a large part of their products so he couldn't just not brew anything.

Following the instructions for the potion George swallowed realizing it was written in Fred's handwriting. It was so hard sometimes because of these reminders. This shop was their baby together so he refused to let it fail. He had to soldier on.

As the cauldron bubbled George checked the book for the next ingredient. He'd just added the salamander blood required to make the users nose bleed. Walking over to the ingredient cabinet he opened the drawer labeled valerian only to find it empty.

He slammed it closed in frustration. George had Snape's voice in his head telling them to always check you have all the ingredients before you start brewing a potion. He never listened very well in potions class.

George put a status charm over the potion and grabbed his coat. Flipping the sign on the door of his shop to make it say that he would be back in an hour. He locked the door and walked through the busy crowded street. Veering off Diagon Ally he made his way to the darker area of town.

Ducking into Knockturn Ally he made his way towards the potion shop.

He scratched his head in confusion when he saw the closed sign. Peering into the window of Slug and Jiggers apothecary he didn't see the shop owner. George sighed at the inconvenience. He had needed that ingredient to finish the Nosebleed Nougat.

He heard a commotion going on around the corner and decided to check it out.

.0.

~ "I said no." Draco snapped. "I'll find a more respectable job."

Badrik had decided he wanted the boy for his collection. "Come if me calmly and you won't get hurt." He threatened the boy.

"I have to go." Draco suddenly felt the urge to flee. Turning on his heel he smacked right into a hard chest and fell to the dirty cobblestones once again. He scrambled to get back to his feet but he tripped on the edge of his robe. There was a ripping noise.

"Grab him." Badrik instructed his goon. There were hardly any people out in Knockturn Alley right now. If they were quick no one would be the wiser they spirited away the boy. By the time the boy's mother realized her son hadn't written there would be nothing to trace Malfoy back to them.

The large man leaned down and grabbed Malfoy's wristed and lugged him up and tried to throw him over his shoulder. He was the hired muscle that was usually used if one of the clients got too out of control. Draco fought every step of the way. Since his hands were no use he used his teeth.

"Ow, the little shit bit me." The goon cried. He slapped the boy across the face shocking him. While he was still winded he threw the boy over his shoulder and started to walk back towards The Sphinxes' Riddle.

"Be careful Noll! I don't want him too injured." Badrik borated his goon for putting a hand on the boy. It wouldn't do to have his face injured.

"Put me down!' Draco cried as he struggled in the man's strong grip. "Help!' calling to the surrounding shoppers, who just turned away not wanting to get involved.

.0.

When George saw who was in trouble he debated about helping or not but in the end his conscious wouldn't allow him to just walk away. Even if it was Malfoy

Pulling out his wand he shot a stunner in the goon's direction. Instead of hitting the large man it hit Malfoy instead. George winced at his mistake as the struggling form stilled. Aiming again George hit the goons arms making them go numb so he dropped the body he had been carrying. The spell hadn't been strong enough to knock out such a large man.

He shot multiple spells and ran to a different area to make it seem like there was more than just one person. Reaching into his robe pocket he grabbed a fire work he had caught a kid trying to steal because he wasn't old enough to buy it himself. Pulling the pin out, he threw the fire work towards the scuffle.

Scaring the two men off with the loud noise it made like gunfire.

Once he thought the coast was clear he walked over to Malfoy's form that was sprawled out face first across the ground. Rolling him with his foot so he could see his condition better.

There was a bruise starting to form already on his right cheek bone where the Slytherin had had been hit. He was sure Malfoy's robes hid other injuries too. The men had not been gentle with him. When he stunned the goon he was dropped from a fair height landing on the hard cobble stones.

It didn't seem right to just leave Malfoy out here in the open. From the papers, he knew that Malfoy's mother had left the country so he couldn't just drop him off with her. It would be best if he brought Malfoy back to the shop with him.

Debating releasing him from his stunner spell but thought it would be easier to get Malfoy back to the shop this way. Probably a lot quieter to. George had cast a lightening charm on Malfoy so that he could carry him back. It would have taken too much energy to levitate him all the way back to the shop.

o0o

George flipped the sign on the shop to say closed, knowing it would take a while to get this sorted out. If anyone came to pick up their products they ordered they'd be out of luck and have to come back later.

Making his way up the stairs to the third floor. George pushed a door that was to the right of the top. He sighed at the sight of his and Fred's old apartment. Even though George hadn't been here in over a year there was no dust covering surfaces because of the house elf that had come with the shop.

George placed Malfoy's limp form on the purple stripped couch. In the good lighting, George could truly see that Malfoy wasn't in good condition at all. He doubted it was just from the altercation earlier.

Deciding to bite the bullet and get this over with. George flicked his wand over the unconscious form. "Innervate."

Malfoy sat up with a gasp and wide eyes.

It appeared he was in a panicked state; which wasn't a surprise considering he was being attacked when he was knocked out. "Calm down you're fine now." George tried to comfort the other boy.

Draco took a deep breath and finally looked around taking in his surroundings. He was no longer outside but what looked like one of the apartments above one of the shops. A nice one at that.

The colour scheme was in light green walls with dark purple accents. The feature piece of the room was a large mantle that held an assortment of photographs and knickknacks. Spotting a Gryffindor scarf amongst the clothing hung up on the coat rack Draco calmed down.

Realizing there was someone standing in front of him Draco turned his attention to them. It took him only a moment to notice the red hair that marked the marked the man as part of the Weasley family. Noticing the poster that said You-Know-Poo out of the corner of his eye he realized he was in the apartment of the Weasley twins. Though he had heard that one them had perished in the final battle.

"Weasley," Draco said since he decided it was a safe greeting.

"Yes, I'm a Weasley. One that just saved your ass." George replied defensively. He knew from Ron that Malfoy had said some awful things about their family in school. Since they were years apart at Hogwarts they hadn't interacted much themselves. It was always in passing.

"I know," Draco replied more humbly than even he expected. He opened his mouth to address the man by name but closed it again. Not wanting to be wrong and upsetting him.

"I'm George, George Weasley." He introduced himself knowing that Malfoy was trying to figure out which one he was. He guessed the blonde had bigger problems than keeping track of who exactly died in the war guessing from where George found him.

"I'm Draco Malfoy, but I'm guessing you know that." He said awkwardly. Even if Draco didn't know people personally they often knew him by reputation.

Ringing a bell on the wall George signaled he wanted some tea. Pulling up one of the high back chairs George looked intently at Malfoy. This wasn't the way he expected Draco Malfoy to act. He had never paid much attention to the Slytherin at school.

A house elf popped in with tray holding tea and biscuits. It was wearing a bright pink dress and a tiara that looked like it was made for a little girl. One of the first things George and his brother had done once they had gotten some money was acquired a house elf just because they could.

It came already named though because it was second hand. George assured they would have come up with a much dirtier name if it was up to them.

The women they bought the property from used to run a tea shop out of it. She said the elf came with the property when she bought it herself but she would like to take it with her. If they paid more she would throw the elf in though. They agreed readily since apparently most pureblood family did not wish to part with their elves.

"Thank you, Missy." George addressed the elf. She curtsied then popped out of existence.

"It was wearing a princess dress," Draco exclaimed in surprise. "It's free then?"

"Yes well, when your youngest brother is dating Hermione Granger, you do what you can to keep your sanity." George shrugged as he remembered the nagging they had to go through. He poured them both some tea. "I think you're obligated to explain to me what happened to lead to that?" George asked pointing in the general direction of the Knockturn Alley.

Draco took a deep breath and picked up the chipped tea cup for something to do with his hands. "I've been trying to find a job since the ministry took all our vaults. I was having no luck in Diagon Ally so I retreated to Knockturn where I thought I would have more luck. Since potions was my best subject I thought I was try to find a job at Slug and Jiggers apothecary but he slammed the door in my face."

"Is that why Slugs was closed? I went to get some ingredients but I was out of luck." George commented out loud.

"Yes, that was my fault sorry." Draco fiddled with his fingers nervously. "I was wondering why you were there, in Knockturn Ally, it doesn't seem like a place you would frequent." He commented then took a sip of the tea. It wasn't that bad tasting at all, he thought it might be Green Tea.

"There are some ingredients that you can't get in the run-a-mill potion shops in Diagon Alley. Continue." George nodded at him.

"The man - Badrik- he owns The Sphinxes' Riddle." Draco tried to start to explain what had been happening. He felt mortified. "I don't really want to explain further."

George put down his tea and looked Malfoy over with new eyes. It wasn't unusual for The Sphinxes' Riddle to head hunt workers. They would find someone who was attractive and down on their luck and lures them in with riches. Malfoy diffidently fit the description.

"So you're looking a job?" George asked out loud. It had clicked into place in his mind that he needed some help with the shop. Someone who would banter and bicker with him, who was proficient at enough at potions that they would be productive. "There is a position available here." George found himself proposing without a thought.

"Are you offering me a job?" Draco blinked at him like he had never seen him before. After a month of having doors slammed in his face, it seemed too good to be true. Especially since he never assumed to even asked.

"Yes. I want to officially reopen the shop by the end of the month but I can't do it by myself." George explained the hard situation he'd found himself in. "You were the best at potions in your year weren't you?" George asked to confirm.

"Yes. It was the only course I beat Granger in." Draco nodded in agreement.

"Ron and his friends complained it was because Snape favored you," George commented thinking back.

"Well, Severus was the reason but not the way you think. He started teaching me about potions when I was five so it's not like I was doing awful work but he was passing me anyway." Draco explained his prowess on the subject.

"What would Snape bother to come to your house and teach you as a young child? Did your father pay him to tutor you or something so that you could get ahead of the competition?" George asked curiously taking a sip of his tea.

"He was my God father," Draco explained flatly.

George choked on his tea at the information. "Your parents made Snape your godfather! The man didn't have a child nurturing bone in his body."

"Teaching me potions is how he tried to connect with me." Draco shrugged. Severus may not have been the most loving man but he showed he cared for his god son in other ways.

"I never suspected," George commented.

"Yes well, Severus tried to distance himself from me when we weren't behind closed doors. I think he was trying to make sure other students weren't favoring me. That didn't work very well." Draco smiled sadly when he thought of his deceased godfather.

"So you've had the best training." George nodded.

"Are you sure you want to hire me, with my reputation?" Draco asked insecurely. "What will your family and Potter think?" He knew once they heard they would try and talk George out of his decision and Weasley would most likely come to his senses.

"You won't be working out front but in the back room. No one has to know so it won't matter. I'm offering you a well-paid position. That's a far better deal you will get anywhere else." George pointed out. He actually really hoped Malfoy accepted so he could get out from under the back orders. Good potion masters were hard to come by.

"I'll readily accept as long as you're sure." Draco jumped at the offer nodding enthusiastically.

"You staying close by?" George asked since he swore he had read somewhere that Malfoy Manor had been sold.

"I'm just staying in the Leaky Cauldron right now." Draco shrugged and looked into his tea.

"I expect you back here tomorrow morning so we can get started." George held out a hand and it was readily shaken. The small smile on Malfoy's face with the black eye that was forming was a sight to see.

                             

… **TBC**

 


	2. Detection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I think I've waited long enough to post the next chapter. I have 12 chapters roughed out so far fr this story. I'm not sure if I'll make it longer or not. Next chapter should be out soon.
> 
> I made some fan art for this. Check out my brand new LiveJournal; the link is in my profile. Finally figured out how to post images on this site. If you are coming back and reading this story check out the image I posted at the end of the first chapter. Painted it my self.

o0o

Malfoy beat him to the shop. He was eager to please. George guessed he'd been turned away from so many jobs he didn't want to screw this one up. He unlocked the door as the blonde hovered by his shoulder.

Pushing the entry open he held it open for Malfoy who skittered in like he was afraid the door would be slammed in his face and he'd be locked out on the other side.

"Well you can see why I need help." George notice how the Slytherin looked at the sparsely stocked shelves. "I'll show you where you'll be working." George indicated for the blonde to follow him. He ascended the stairs to the second story. Turning right he walked over to a curtained off area that had a sign over it that said _Employees Only_.

Draco entered self-consciously pushing the red suede curtain aside.

Inside the room was centered around a large cauldron; made for making multiple batches for products. There was a large shop cabinet with dozens of drawers with labels that held all the potion ingredients. Off to the side there was a rough wooden work table with quite a few burns in the surface and all different colors of stains.

"Why is there no door?" Draco asked curiously. He figured that any customers could just wonder in. He doubted the _Employees Only_ sign could only do so much.

"It did originally but after all the explosions we found it was a quicker escape if you didn't have to deal with a door." George replied.

"Explosions?" Draco questioned with a raised eyebrow.

"That was during our exploration phase so don't worry, also the curtain allows a lot more ventilation." George shrugged, not seeing any reason to put a door back up. Gesturing to the other side of the room to continued the tour. "Here's the ingredient cabinet. Just tell me if you notice we're running low on anything."

Draco nodded to show he understood.

"You'll be expected to brew certain products on a rotation. I've written out a list of what we need the most so far." George handed over the list to the Slytherin. Walking over to the book shelve he selected a thick tomb and placed it on the burnt work bench. He stared at it for a moment. "This is the book."

"I can see it's a book." Draco exclaimed impatiently when Weasley didn't explain further.

"It holds all the recipes for our products. This is what you will be using for brewing." George explained. Flipping it open to a random page he showed the handwritten pages for the Slytherin to see. "Just follow the recipes like you're in Snape's potion class and it should be fine."

"So you have everything written in one master copy?" Draco asked noticing the hand written pages, Weasley nodded. "I feel like I should hit you for your stupidity."

"Why?" George asked confused by the Slytherin's reaction.

"You're a successful business. If someone wanted to steal your products they would take everything if they got a hand on this." Draco gestured to the book. "Especially since you don't have a door." He gestured to the curtain.

"I get your point." George nodded getting to what the Slytherin was trying to say. He made a note to make a copy of the book. He reached into a cupboard and retrieved something. "Here's your uniform." George held up the magenta robe for the Slytherin to see.

"You have got to be kidding me." Draco spat, letting his true personality show through.

"Nope." George replied with a wide smirk. "All Weasley Wizard Wheeze employees are required to wear this uniform." He threw the robe hitting Malfoy in the face.

Grudgingly Draco slipped the robe on over his clothes. Warm colours were awful against his skin tone. He looked better in dark blacks and cold blues. He shifted uncomfortably.

"Let's get to work." George exclaimed clapping his hands together.

.0.

It took a day or two for Malfoy to loosen up.

At first he didn't say much and just followed orders without any complaints. Showed up at the shop in the morning, did what was required of him and then went back to the Leaky at night. After having to work with George as a potion partner for a couple days it made the Slytherin snap.

"Merlin's balls Weasley, there's only supposed to be 3 peacock feathers in there not 9." Draco berated with a scowl. "Now I'm going to have to figure out a way to counteract it or the whole batch will be garbage." This was the fifth time that Weasley had managed to screw up a potion. He'd succeeded in saving some but most had been thrown out and restarted.

"Sorry, sorry." George apologized sheepishly. He'd read the line underneath by accidently and mixed the two intructions together.

"I can see why there were so many explosions." Draco sneered with frustration as he scanned the ingredient cabinet to find one that was suitable to stable the potion.

He sprinkled some salt to soak up the peacock feathers. The colour returned to the right tone so Draco guessed it worked. The potion needed to sit for 10 minutes before they could add the next ingredient according to the book.

Draco was setting the timer when the cauldron suddenly started to bubble over. George was standing beside it with a guilty expression. "I thought the next ingredient went in now."

"That's it." Draco slammed the knife to the work bench before he was tempted to use it with murderous intent. "You're banished."

"What?" George asked baffled incredulously. "This is my shop."

"You are banished from working on any of the potions. Charm anything you like but stay out of my way. This is now my territory." Draco had been trying to stay on his best behavior but after Weasley had blown up another cauldron he couldn't take it anymore. He got snarky when he was frustrated.

"Don't you need help?" George asked. Brewing took up the large majority of the production of the products. He felt like he was taking advantage of the blonde if he left all that work up to him.

"Not from you." Draco exclaimed on the border of rudeness. "If you ever want to open your shop again you'll leave the brewing up to me." Said bossily.

"Fine." George conceded. "I'll stay on this side of the room." He stood by the burnt out work bench.

Once Malfoy took lead on the brewing everything started to run a lot smoother. He was easily able to understand Fred's notes and even improve on them. It was another couple of days until Malfoy started to reciprocate George's jokes as they worked.

.0.

"Great work this week." George slapped Malfoy on the back. It was the first full week they had managed to work together. He felt like they'd made major progress. "You can have the weekend off." George thought it looked like Malfoy was not happy to hear that.

"Fine." Draco hung up the magenta work robe and switched it for his own cloak threadbare cloak. Draco was almost reluctant to leave. The joke shop had become a haven from the world. "I'll see you on monday."

They both left the work room. George headed up to his apartment and Draco descended to the front door.

Draco sighed as he left the shop. It was already dark out and the weather had grown chilly because fall had descended. He shivered as the cold wind blew straight through his robes. Draco flipped his hood up.

He walked back down through Diagon Alley back to the leaky. The majority of the shops were already closed. The only lights on seemed to come from The Leaky Cauldron. Draco tapped the bricks that allowed him entrance to the tavern.

Pushing open the door he was met by laughing as ministry workers enjoyed their after work drinks. It was always busiest that time of night. He could see a group of aurors' in training in the back. Draco couldn't see Potter from his view point but he was sure he was in the group.

Not feeling like fighting his way through the crowds to order food he decided to head straight up to his room. On the way over he almost walked directly into someone. When he realized it was Potter he was glad he still had his hood up.

"Watch it." Harry snapped balancing the drinks he almost spilled.

Draco nodded his head and scampered up the stairs before the Savior looked closer and realized who he was.

Unlocking the door he had to jiggle the handle and bang his shoulder into the door to get it to open. It always stuck. As soon as he made his way into his dingy hotel room he shrugged off his robe. He didn't bother to get changed other than removing his shoes.

When he flopped down on the bed in exhaustion the springs squeaked. The room wasn't much but it was a roof over his head. He could hear the noise drift up through the floor from the bar as he tried to fall asleep.

When dust started to fall from the ceiling from the movement of other guests Draco groaned and held the pillow over his face. 'At least someone was getting some' he thought bitterly. Somehow he managed to drift off to sleep even with the rocking coming from above.

.0.

George was restocking their edible section. They had made great progress with brewing up new batches. The store was looking less ransacked by the day.

Draco had decided to take a break. He ended up wondering out into the shop and spotted his boss on a ladder. He walked over and looked at the assortment of products. Between the _Edible Dark Marks_ and _Sugar Hexes_ , Draco was afraid to consume any of it.

"You know you might do better business if you actually made some candy that doesn't have adverse repercussions once ingested." Draco suggested after picking up a box of Puking Pastilles. Just the name put him off.

"It's a joke shop though." George replied looking down at the blonde head of hair.

"You can compete with Honey dukes if you make the right products." Draco suggested with eagerness.

"You just want to eat the products." George teased. He'd noticed that the Slytherin had a mean sweet tooth. The blonde shrugged not denying his accusation. "How?" George leaned back against the shelf with interest, balancing himself on the ladder.

"Well think about chocolate frogs for example. You can make a similar product of a different magic animal that comes with a card, of some of the worse wizards in history so it's the opposite of the original product." Draco suggested with enthusiasm. "That way you start a new cards for children to collect making them come back for more. Again and again."

"That is…" George blinked at the Slytherin in amazement. He slid down the ladder to the floor and leaned against it. "A brilliant amazing idea! How did you come up with that on the spot?"

"Slytherin cunning." Draco replied with a smug smirk. "Truthfully, I was taught how to do business by my father. Since I was little I've been groomed to think about what would make the most money."

"The Malfoy fortune didn't come from evil deeds but a good business sense." George exclaimed with a disappointed tone.

"Generations of it." Draco nodded. "I'm not saying there was wasn't any underhandedness on the way but generally Malfoy's just know how to make money." He leaned against the shelves.

"I'll get to writing ideas down straight away." George exclaimed. He hadn't been this excited about a product since before the war. He walked to his office with ideas swimming in his head. 'This might actually work.' George thought to himself. He hadn't just hired himself an amazing potion master but a new business partner.

o0o

George noticed that Malfoy was very skinny over the next week. He doubted he was eating properly. When he went to grab lunch he picked up another sandwich. Offering the food to the other boy he noticed how he licked his lips in anticipation.

Malfoy tried to hide how ravished he was as he ate the sandwich.

"Have you not been eating?" George asked. He forced the other half of his sandwich on the boy and Malfoy reluctantly accepted since he was so hungry.

"Most of my money's going to pay for my room at the Leaky right now." Draco admitted embarrassedly. Having a roof over his head was more important than decent food right now.

The money his mother had left him with had been depleting faster than he thought it would. He hadn't gotten paid for his work at the shop yet. He'd never have to worry about how he spent his money before now. He used to just expect food to be on the table when he wanted no question.

"You can stay here." George gestured to the apartment they were sitting in. Over the short time they had been working together he had grown to almost like Malfoy. It disturbed him to hear that he had been practically starving himself.

"I can't. Don't you live here?" Draco inquired at his boss's generous offer.

"Not since the war. It's been empty for a long time now." George replied.

"Why?" Draco asked curiously. It was a really nice apartment in his opinion.

"I can't stand to live here without Fred. It took me a year to even reopen the shop." George had many memories in this apartment and it was too hard to stay here day in and day out.

"You always come from up here though." Draco had noticed he hardly ever used the front door. The only time he'd seen it happen was the first day he came to work for him. After that the red head opened the door from the inside when he arrived for his shift.

"I just use the fire place to floo to an apartment that I share with Lee Jordon." George shrugged explaining why he was always seen exiting and entering the apartment. "Just warning you that is part of the deal that is non-negotiable. I will be using the floo plenty."

"Hey, it's your floo go right ahead." Draco didn't argue even though most people would say it was a breach of their privacy. Living here would provide him with a lot more than The Leaky Cauldron ever would. He didn't mind also because it was George.

Draco had grown to respect and even like a Weasley, gasp.

"We should get back to work." George got up to leave.

"Thank you." Malfoy called after him.

.0.

That very night Draco packed his possessions and checked out of the Leaky Cauldron. He was glad to see the back of the place. When he showed up back at the apartment he only had one small bag.

"That's all you have?" George asked as he poured them some fire whisky.

"Yeah, I didn't want to be weighed down by a lot of objects. I wasn't sure how long it would take me to actually find someplace to settle down." Draco placed his rucksack on the ground beside one of the chairs.

"Is everything in else your vault?" George asked. Malfoy shifted uncomfortably at the question.

"The ministry actually confiscated all our vaults. " Draco admitted with a blush.

"Are they checking them over for dark artifacts or something?" George probed as he poured them some fire whiskey.

Draco shook his head. "War reparations. The ministry claims we have to pay for all the damage we caused. The only thing they let us keep was Malfoy Manor."

"They took every single sickle of the Malfoy fortune?" George asked aghast. Malfoy nodded and took a sip of the fire whisky. "They can't do that. It immoral." George felt offended for his new friend.

"Nothing I can really do about it. If I tried to fight the matter the ministry would most likely just throw me in Azkaban." Draco just shrugged. "I decided to try and get a job instead."

"I'm glad I was the one that ended up hiring you." George clanked his class against Malfoy's.

o0o

George looked at the fully stocked shelves in accomplishment. It took them about a month give or take to get the shop to fully restocked. He was able to fill the owl orders easily now since he could send the products off straight away.

They just had a few more products to make and then the shop front could be opened for business.

The bell over the door rang loudly as someone entered.

"Did you miss me?" A female voice asked dramatically. The blonde young woman held her arms out dramatically and smiled brightly at him.

"Verity it's good to see you again." George greeted. They had hired Verity as a shop assistant when they first opened the shop after leaving Hogwarts. He had owled her to ask if she'd like to work here again.

"I'm so glad you're reopening the shop." Verity commented to George. "You could not believe the odd jobs I've had over the past few years."

Draco wondered out of the work room since it was time for lunch. He stopped when he saw the unfamiliar blonde haired young women standing beside his boss.

"Malfoy come down here." George called, the blonde came down stairs. "This is Verity. She usually runs the till of the shop." He introduced them.

The Slytherin approached the stranger nervously. "Nice to meet you." Draco held out a hand for her to shake.

"Malfoy, isn't that the family…?" Verity inquired looking questionably at her friend.

"Yes but that's his family, not him." George replied giving her an encouraging look.

Draco deflated at the girl's reaction. His last name strikes again. He was just pulling his hand back when it was grasped tightly and shook enthusiastically. "What the hell." She exclaimed then pulled her fellow blonde into a tight hug. "Welcome to the team."

"Verity is very friendly." George explained with a fond tone. The Slytherin had a dazed expression once he was released.

Verity shrugged and smiled brightly at the blonde. "If George likes you that's good enough for me."

"Well I'm Draco and I do the brewing." He introduced himslef.

"You're so cute." Verity pinched Malfoy's check the flounced out of the shop. "I'll see you two at the re-opening."

George laughed at how flummoxed Malfoy looked. He thumped the blonde on his back on his way to his office.

Draco rubbed his cheek.

o0o

Harry trudged down hardened through Diagon Ally. The missions they were given as aurors in training were stupid. Since he was in his second year they were giving him experience outside the classroom. Each day there were split into pairs of two and given a different assignment to complete. A senior auror was supposed to escort them but they usually had something better to do.

It didn't help that the head auror hated him.

Robarts thought he got into the auror program under false pretenses. Without any NEWTS he should have been turned away but the ministry had made an exception for Harry Potter. Even Ron had to go back to Hogwarts to finish his final year out before he was accepted.

He should have denied the offer but Harry felt like he couldn't go back to Hogwarts. Not after the war. Too much had happened for him to spend another year in school. It felt like if Harry did he would be going backwards while he needed to move forward in his life.

Someone as a prank had given a muggle tattoo shop the dark mark as a design. Their assignment had been to take the design down and remove the memory of it from everyone in the shop. The problem was that they had apparently already tattooed the design onto the skin of several muggles. He had to research tattoo removal and then spend the rest of the day running all over London tracking the people down.

He knew he had asked not be treated differently but he had killed Voldemort couldn't they give him something a little more serious.

Spotting Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes and decided to pop in for a bit. He knew that George had been doing better recently for some reason. When he came for Sunday brunch at the Burrow he had a new spring in his step.

Pushing open the door a bell rang when he entered. The shop was a lot quitter this time a year with all the children back in school. It was empty at this time of day because classes didn't end for another hour or two.

"George." Harry called and received no answer. 'He must be in the back room working.' He thought to himself. Pushing open the curtain labeled _Workers Only_ that he ignored. Sure enough the cauldron was bubbling away and the room was filled with smoke.

When the steam cleared he saw not a tall red head but a blonde. "Malfoy?" Harry gasped in shock.

Draco's head whipped up from his work. "Potter." He stuttered in surprise. The brunet turned on his heel and stomped out. Draco put a statis charm on the potion and chased after his school rival. "Potter!'

Turning on his heel he stopped to confront the Slytherin. "What are you doing here?" Harry demanded putting his hands on his hips.

"Well, umm… I was… George allowed…" Draco stuttered nervously. He hadn't been expecting to have his day start with a confrontation with Potter. He couldn't get his mouth to cooperate with him. His nerves were getting to him.

The bell above the door jingled as George entered. "I got the ingredients you needed Malfoy!" The red head spoke like his voice was trying to reach the back room. He took off coat and hung it on a rack by the door. Looking up he stopped mid step when he saw the messy raven hair.

"Harry." George said with a smile then he notice the frown on his friends face. Noticing Malfoy's twitching form also in the room he realized the situation. "Oh."

"Oh. Oh, is all you can say?" Harry seethed and crossed his arms. "What the fuck is Malfoy doing here?" He demanded an explanation.

"He works for me?" George shrugged his shoulders. He was hoping it would be a lot further down the line when anyone would find out.

"You hired him?" Harry's eyes widened.

"Yeah, it's no big deal. He needed a job and I needed a potion master." George tried to play down the significance of his gesture. "Malfoy's quit good."

"I don't care how good he is." Harry snapped. "He was a Death Eater. Look he even has his mark on display." Pointing to the blonde. This one wouldn't just come off with an Evancio either.

Draco looked down to see that Potter was right and he flushed. He often had to roll up his sleeves as a safety measure so they wouldn't catch on fire. He quickly rolled them down over his hands. He felt mortified standing there as they fought over him.

"I needed the help and Malfoy had the best credentials for the job." George defended his decision.

"I'm a part owner of this company. Don't you think I should have a say in who works for you." Harry snapped.

George had forgotten about that because it happened so long ago. "Fine I'll buy you out because I'm keeping Malfoy."

"I gave you the start-up money for this shop and you haven't been selling anything for over a year. You can't afford to buy me out right now." Harry pointed out. He knew he shouldn't be lording that over George. He just come out of a brought of depression over the death of his brother.

A silence fell over the room that was stifling. Harry and George were both out of breath and glaring at each other at a standstill.

Draco felt his eyes watering. He wasn't going to stand here crying over something he couldn't fight. He would leave before he was kicked out. "I'll just pack then." Draco claimed quietly but was heard loudly in the silence. He turned and fled upstairs to grab his meager possessions. It had been great working here but it had been too good to be true.

George ran over to the bottom of the stairs. "No Malfoy, Draco!" he corrected himself realizing he had come to think of the other man as a friend. "You're staying, Harry is leaving."

"Malfoy's living here?" Harry asked surprised. "He's rich though."

"Yes he is boarding here. I won't have you kick him out of his job and his home." George snapped. "You don't understand the situation at all. Have you even read the Prophet lately?"

"You know I don't read that crap." Harry huffed and crossed his arms defensively.

"Maybe you should before you jump to conclusions. Can you kindly leave? I have to calm Draco down now." George pointed towards the door.

Harry stomped towards the door and slammed it shut behind him making the bell jingle loudly announcing his exit.

George let out a sigh. He never liked fighting with people. He walked up the stairs to the second level. "Draco?" He called as he knocked on the door lightly. Receiving no answer he pushed the door opened.

He saw a form crumpled by the fire place. Malfoy was lightly crying.

"Don't listen to what Harry said. He was being an idiot." George said to try and comfort him.

"Potter's right though. I was a Death Eater." Draco raised his head from his arms so that George could see his red eyes. "You're being too good to me. I'm scum."

"You aren't scum. You're far from it." George kneeled down beside the blonde. "When I look at you I see a smart young man who knows his way around a cauldron."

"It isn't enough. When everyone sees my last name or even my hair; they immediately think of me as a Death Eater first instead of a person." Draco said letting a few more tears slip from his eyes.

"It's enough for me." George wiped the tears away with his thumbs. "I like you very much which should count for something. Fred and I had a saying. That as long as we had each other the rest of the world doesn't matter."

"I'm nowhere close to a replacement for your brother." Draco shook his head.

George sighed in exasperation. "I'm not saying that's what I'm trying to do with you. It's nice to have someone you can depend on though. We have each other and that's enough."

"Friend?" Malfoy looked up at him with a hopeful look in his eyes.

"Yes, I consider you a friend." George smiled kindly at the blonde.

"Really?" Draco asked with a shy smile and looked down bashfully. "Would it sound pathetic if I think you might be the best friend I've ever had?"

"No, I take it as a compliment." George smirked but he noticed how somber Malfoy still was. "I'm surprised you didn't leave." He commented since Malfoy had plenty of time to do so.

"There's no floo powder." Draco sniffled as he gestured to the empty bowl on the mantle.

"Thank fuck for that." George said with some humor. "I would have had to search for you all over."

"I have nowhere else to go anyway. I would've just ended up back at the Leaky Cauldron any ways." Draco shrugged.

o0o

Harry paced back and forth.

He had floo-ed over to the burrow straight away from the Leaky Cauldron. Ron still lived there since his mother needed some more support after Fred's death.

It wasn't an uncommon occurrence for him to let out some steam from auror training by complaining to his friends. They calmly sat on the couch and waited for him to start ranting to get the stress off his chest.

"Your brother is crazy." Harry growled out continuing to pace back and forth.

"Which one." Ron asked sarcastically. He had so many and he wouldn't call any of them completely sane.

"George." Harry answered. "You know what he did? He hired Malfoy at the joke shop."

Ron started to choke on the pastry, Hermione slapped him on his back. "Did you just say…? Malfoy?" Ron coughed and raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"Keep it down!" Mrs. Weasley yelled down the stairs. "Some of us are trying to sleep."

"Come back to bed Molly." They could hear Mr. Weasley's muffled voice yell from the bedroom.

"Sorry Mrs. Weasley." Harry called apologizing.

"Calm down. Here have a cookie." Ron offered a plate for his perusal.

Harry didn't doubt that they were freshly baked. Some people wallowed in self-pity when they lost a child while Mrs. Weasley baked her sorrows away. He grabbed an oatmeal chocolate chip one and took a bite.

"Feel better." Hermione asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Yeah actually I do." Harry felt himself relax as he chewed.

Harry and Ron shared a look of discontent at Malfoy working at Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

Hermione looked between them. "What's Malfoy helping with?"

"Potions" Harry grumbled between bites.

"Makes sense. Potions was the only subject Malfoy always beat me in." Hermione nodded.

"That's really your response?" Harry asked in agitation. Brushing crumbs off his shirt.

"I think he'll be good for the business." Hermione shrugged, not seeing a problem with her reaction. "You should at least give him a chance. Wait until he actually does something before you act."

Their discussion was disturbed when Ginny came through the floo. It looked like she had been at the pub with some friends because she seemed a little tipsy.

"Ginny." Harry said in acknowledgment.

"Harry." Ginny replied back. There was an awkward pause before she flounced up the stairs.

"You two need to get your shit together." Ron warned his friend.

Harry deflated. "I know. My relationship with Ginny isn't what we are talking about right now though." He flopped down on the couch between his two friends. "It's like George feels sorry for Malfoy." Harry contemplated their interaction.

"I think I'll have to see it to believe it." Ron commented.

"George suggested I read the paper and then I might understand better." Harry retold.

Hermione looked uncomfortable. "The Prophet has been writing all sort of things about Malfoy lately. It's impossible to tell if any of it is true though."

"Yeah George brought up a whole bunch of reasons." Harry sighed as he grabbed another cookie.

"The Ministry taking all the Malfoy vaults?" Hermione exclaimed.

"True." Harry aid with his mouth full.

"The one about..."

That one's true too." Harry swallowed and sighed.

"I'll get you some copies." Hermione volunteered patting him on the hand. She stood up and wrote a letter giving it to Pig to deliver.

… **TBC**

 


	3. Truce

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I realized that I had mentioned something that hasn't happened yet in the story so I had to do some rearranging. I switched the main event in this and the next chapter. It took a while to make everything make sense. That's the problem when you're writing the whole story at once instead of chapter by chapter; you can lose track of what has happened already.
> 
> I had some things to do this week so I haven't done much writing. It didn't help that I decided I wanted to draw something yesterday to go along with this.

 

o0o

George groaned as he regained consciousness. When he sat up the light blanket fell to the floor. Looking around he realized he's passed out on the purple stripped couch in Malfoy's apartment above the shop. It had been a long night. He had broken out the fire whiskey to help Malfoy calm down. It didn't seem like such a good idea in the light of day.

"My head is killing me." Draco groaned as he leaned against the hall way wall at the entrance into the main room. He'd fallen asleep in his clothes on top of the covers, his hair was a mess. With his head pounding he walked over and collapsed in the blue high back chair in front of the fire.

"Do you feel as well as you look?" George asked.

"Don't even get me started." Draco grumbled as he shut his eyes and rubbed his temples. "I am never drinking with you again."

"Don't make promises you can't keep." George warned the Slytherin.

"You're right. There is no way I can possibly survive working day in and day out with you completely sober." Draco replied back sarcastically. He felt his stomach turning. "I feel like I'm going to be sick."

"I have just the cure." George shakily stood and then disappeared down the hall. Opening the medicine cabinet in the bathroom he retrieved a bottle. Stopping in the small kitchenette he grabbed two tankards and divided the bottles contents. Walking back over to the seating area he handed Malfoy one of the mugs.

Draco scrunched up his nose in disgust at the smell the liquid was giving off. "What is this shit?" He leaned his head area and held the liquid as far away from himself as possible.

"Weasley hangover cure." George replied, taking his own like a shot so he didn't have to taste it. He sighed in relief as it took effect. "Just drink it. You'll thank me."

As soon as Draco swallowed the concoction he felt the pounding in his head clear. He felt completely normal again surprisingly. "You should sell this shit in the shop. You'd make a fortune." It worked better than any hangover potion he had ever had. His mouth tasted disgusting though.

"Duly noted." George replied leaning back with a contented sigh.

Now that he was sober Draco could remember everything that happened the night before. He cradled his head in his hands. "I feel so embarrassed." Draco blushed as he remembered crying on the floor.

George shrugged. "It isn't surprising that after what Harry said you had a mental break. You've been going through a lot lately. I won't hold it against you."

"I don't want to ever see Potter again." Draco exclaimed leaning back into his chair with his arms crossed.

"You two need to talk this over. You've been at each other's throat since you were eleven." George suggested.

"Maybe we do but not right now." Draco stood up and walked towards the kitchen where he placed the cup in the sink. "I'm going to have a shower then get to work."

                                                                                                                 ...

Once Malfoy was back in the work room brewing he seemed to be calming down more. It made him realize that he really wasn't going to get fired and it was something to keep his mind busy.

George made an excuse to leave the shop. Instead of going to retrieve more ingredients though he walked over to The Leaky Cauldron and floo-ed over to Grimmauld place. "Harry!" George called stepping out of the mantle, brushing off the soot from his shoulders.

He heard some noise from the kitchen. "Be right there!" Was yelled from that direction. Harry stepped out holding a cup of tea in one hand and a copy of the Prophet in the other.

"Did you read some of the Prophet articles then?" George asked noticing the paper in his hands. Since Harry didn't have a subscription he must have purposely went out to buy one.

"Yes. I didn't know the ministry confiscated all his money." Harry gestured to the stacks of papers by his favorite chair.

"I asked you to read some of the articles. That's a little over kill isn't it?" George's eyes widened at the tall stacks spread around the room.

"One word, Hermione." Harry sat down with a sigh in a high back chair by the fire. He had come home after a long day of Auror training to find his parlor swamped by the papers.

"That would explain it." George nodded in understanding. Hermione did everything thoroughly to the point of overkill. This had her name all over it.

"I haven't even made a dent in them but I got the gist of what you are trying to say." Harry had mentioned how he didn't know what had been going on with Malfoy because he never read the Prophet. Hermione had gone and owled the Prophets archives; to ask them to dig up all the recent papers that had featured Draco Malfoy or anything about the Malfoy's at all. She had sent them over that morning while he was out at auror training.

"Like I said yesterday, Malfoy needed a job and I needed help with potions, so it was a good fit." George started to explain. "What was never brought up was how he actually came to be in my company."

"Didn't Malfoy just come in and inquire if you were hiring?" Harry asked, taking a sip of his tea.

"No." George sighed. "I ran out of some potion ingredients so I went to Knockturn Ally to restock some of them. I heard a disturbance so I went to check it out. Malfoy was being practically kidnapped by two men."

Harry froze at the information. "What did they want with him?"

"Malfoy really won't like me telling you." George looked at him contemplatively. "Just know he wasn't in a good situation. I'm here because you verbally attacked one of my employees yesterday. You can be upset about him working for me but you didn't have to destroy him in the process." George said with a disappointed tone.

"We argued all the time at Hogwarts and it never bugged him before." Harry said in his defense. He knew he hadn't reacted well yesterday at the shop.

"It's different now. Draco's delicate." George claimed grabbing one of the papers he shoved it in his face. The image on the front was Malfoy's mug shot from when he had been taken into custody after the final battle of Hogwarts. Since everyone was on high alert anyone with a dark mark had been sent straight to Azkaban to await their trial, a couple days later Malfoy was removed because they realized he was under age.

Harry grabbed the paper out of his hands. The article was about Malfoy's trial and included everything he had to go through during the war. Most of it Harry didn't even want to think about. He got George's point though. They weren't children anymore. There had been a war and they had both experience horrible things.

"Delicate! Nothing about Malfoy is delicate except maybe the way he drinks his tea." Harry still huffed defensively.

"I mean emotionally. What you said about him pushed his feelings over the edge." George narrowed his eyes. "He was doing ok before you opened your big gob. Malfoy knew that most people hated him but he at least had hope that if he worked hard he could change their opinions."

"Now?" Harry asked nervously.

"Now he doesn't feel like he ever has a chance to change people's attitude towards him. He's lost hope." George crossed his arms.

Harry sighed. "I didn't mean to do that. I had just had a frustrating day of auror training and I might have taken it out on him." He took a sip of his cooling tea.

"You spoke for him at his trial. Why would you do that if he didn't deserve another chance?" George pointed out.

"It just felt like the right thing to do to testify for Malfoy." Harry shrugged at the reason he helped his school yard nemesis stay out of Azkaban.

"Well I feel like this is the right thing to do." George narrowed his eyes. At first he'd had his doubts about hiring Malfoy after everything his youngest brother had said about the boy from school, but after getting to know him personally he knew it was a good fit. He didn't like to see Malfoy hurt like this. "You're going to apologize to him." George claimed like it was a done deal.

"No way. I'm not apologizing to that git." Harry frowned and crossed his arms.

George leaned over and grabbed his arm apparating him back to the shop.

                                                                         

"George!" Harry snapped tugging his arm out of the red heads grip. Looking around he realized he was in the middle of the shop. "What the hell did you do that for?"

"I figured now, since you're already here, you might as well apologize to Draco now." George shrugged and acted innocent like he didn't know why the other boy was mad.

Harry narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Fine." He looked around the empty shop. "Where is Malfoy so I can get this over with?"

"He should still be in the work room where I left him." George answered. Harry stomped towards the stairs.  

 ...

When Draco heard Potter's voice in the main room he winced and stopped stirring the potion. Pushing the curtain aside he peered into the shop, he swore when he saw that his hunch was confirmed. 'He told George he didn't want to talk to Potter yet, the interfering bastard' He thought to himself looking around figuring what to do.

Draco decided to retreat up to apartment to avoid the confrontation all together.   

George entered the back room. "That's weird. He was just here." He looked around curiously. The cauldron was still smoking so he hadn't been gone long. Then he heard the closing of a door on the upper level and he sighed in exasperation.

"Where is he then?" Harry asked disgruntled. He really didn't want to do this.

"Draco went upstairs to hide from you apparently." George rolled his eyes. "Here's the key so you can get in." He pushed him towards the stairs.

Harry glared back at him but then marched up the stairs anyways. Trying the door he found it was indeed locked. Placing the key in the hole he turned it till he heard the click. Opening the door he ascended the short set of steps and looked around the seemly empty apartment. "Malfoy!" Harry called.

Draco had been flopped on his bed when he heard someone entering the apartment. He expected it to be George but instead it was the person he as hiding from. He pressed the pillow over his head to block out the noise.

"I just want to talk to you." Noticing the closed bedroom door Harry walked over and turned the knob. He could see Malfoy's form on the bed with a pillow over his head. "Malfoy?"

"Go away Potter." Draco demanded pressing the pillow closer to his head.

"Come on." Harry rolled his eyes at the childish behavior. It was almost like Malfoy was pretending like if he couldn't see me I couldn't see him. Walking over to the bed Harry ripped the pillow away from the Slytherin's head. The blonde sat up and glared at him. Malfoy's hair was all messed up and sticking in different directions. It was almost cute in a way.

"What do you want? Didn't you already say enough? You don't want to be sullied by the Death Eater too." Draco snapped defensively.

Harry winced when he noticed the redness around the grey eyes that came from crying. It hit him that his words had truly wounded the blonde. "I'm here to say I'm sorry for the way I reacted yesterday. It was wrong of me to judge you like that." He apologized sincerely realizing in surprise that he truly meant it. "Truce."

Potter held a hand out for him to take. Draco deflated feeling tired from his wound up emotions. He slipped his slender hand into the rougher one and croaked. "Truce."

                                                                                                                    o0o

Draco yawned as he entered the work room in the early morning. He'd had a hard time falling asleep the night before. His talk with Potter kept running through his head.

After working at Weasley Wizard Wheezes' for a couple weeks he had a routine now.

Flicking his wand he turned the lights on. Placing his tea on the work table he walked over to the cauldron to fill it with water and swished his wand to light the base. He sat down on the bench to drink his tea as he waited for the cauldron to bubble.

He looked at the list of products he still needed to make to restock the shop. Slowly he had been ticking items off the list, he was more than half way through. Decided on one, Draco flipped open the book to the right recipe. Looking at the list he stood to retrieve the right ingredients from the cupboard.

Once the water had come to a boil he started to add ingredients in the proper order. Following the instructions he completed the potion.

It was quite working by himself. George rarely entered the work room except for certain designated times. The charms or the products were a lot less time consuming than potion brewing. With just a flick of his wand he was done. George spent most of his time getting the packaging made for the products.

The morning passed quickly with him following a similar routine.

Checking the time Draco decided he had enough time to make one more batch before he took his lunch break. After setting up the cauldron and the ingredients he slowly started to add ingredients carefully. He counted under his breath as he stirred counter clockwise ten times just like the other Weasley twin's notes said.

Draco jumped when he felt someone leaning over his shoulder. When he realized who it was he sighed. "What are you doing here?"

"Have to make sure you aren't up to something." Potter replied with a teasing tone in his voice.

"Didn't we already make a truce?" Draco turned his burning eyes on Potter. "Why are you still suspicious of me?" He waved the stirring rod in Potter's face threateningly.

"I want to be able to immediately be able to trust you but truthfully you need to earn it." Harry explained his apprehensive behavior. Pushing the stirring rod out of his face making the blonde frown. "Even though we've know each other for the past 8 years, we hardly know each other."

"Well whose fault is that? I offered to be your friend and you turned me down." Draco replied petulantly, turning back to the potion.

"There was a lot against a friendship working between us, now there isn't." Harry stated with a sigh. "Can we at least try to get along together? For George." He added on.

"Fine." Draco sighed in resignation. In his frustration he started to stir the cauldron really fast.

"Good. I've got to go but I be back soon." He exclaimed after looking at his watch. His lunch break was over and he had to check in with his training officer. Pushing off the wall he left the workroom.

The cauldron suddenly bubbled threateningly. Draco winced realizing he had over stirred making the potion now unstable. "Stupid Potter!" Draco cursed as he shot a Tergio charm at the cauldron clean it out. Having to start over all over again.

                                                                                                                   ...

True to his word Potter showed up almost every day that week to check in on him. Draco thought he was just doing it to bug him. At first they were tense in each others company then they started to have actual conversations. In his frustration at being constantly disturbed in his work he started to snap at Potter.

"Aren't you supposed to be at Auror training?" Draco grumbled as he stirred the potion he'd been working on. It was hard to concentrate with Potter staring at him all the time. It was the middle of the work week and the boy had just been lounging around the shop all day.

"I'm in between cases at the moment." Harry shrugged turning the page of the Quidditch magazine he was reading.

"What does that even mean? You aren't even a real auror yet." Draco snapped cutting some ingredients aggressively.

Harry shrugged as he licked his finger so that he could turn the page. "I get training assignments that I have to complete daily but my Senior Auror is in the middle of an important case so he doesn't have time today to hand out anything new."

"Shouldn't you be doing something productive instead of hovering around me disturbing my work." Draco complained in frustration. "Why aren't you having a relaxing day at home?"

"I'd rather hang around here than at home. Kreacher is getting on my nerves." Harry exclaimed adamantly shaking his head.

"And Kreacher is...?" Draco inquired confused.

"He's my house elf." Harry replied flatly

"If he's a house elf why don't you just order the thing to fuck off?" Draco asked since he had a lot of experience with the buggers.

"Because it's a house elf that doesn't really listen to me." Harry replied in exasperation. Kreacher had become a lot better after the war but he still had mood swings were he returned to his former self. "I inherited Kreacher from the Black family, he would probably listen better to an order you gave than me."

"Then just tell the elf that Draco Malfoy commands him to fuck off." Draco replied flippantly as he measure some stink sap.

Harry ended up trying that when he got home. Surprisingly it worked.

                                                                                                            o0o

George woke up when his alarm sounded. Feeling around with his hand he slapped the top to make the loud noise quite. He dragged himself out of bed and slumped into the kitchen. When he got there is room mate was already up.

"I made you some tea," Jordon said, pointing to the second cup.

"Thank you." George sat heavily into one of the chairs at the little. He pulled the saucer closer to his seat. Removing the tea bag that had been seeping he put two sugar cubes in and stirred. Taking a sip he slid the paper closer to himself.

Flipping open The Daily Prophet, George crumpled the paper in his hands when he read the headline. Pushing his chair back, he immediately stalked over to the hearth.

"George, something wrong?" Lee Jordon asked confused by his roommate's actions.

Without answering George threw floo powder down, he growled out. "The Burrow." Stepping out on the other side he couldn't see anyone from his position in front of the mantle. Listening he could hear cutlery scrapping in the kitchen. Stalking towards the sounds he pushed open the door to see all of the house inhabitants minus his father and plus Harry Potter eating breakfast. Ginny was on her way out.

"Who blabbed?" George demanded to announce his presence, putting his hand on his hips.

"Who did what now?" Ron asked with his mouth full. Hermione slapped him in the shoulder in reprimand.

"Who told the Prophet that Draco Malfoy is working for me?" George demanded the room's occupants. Throwing the paper on the table for them to see. The headline read  _Malfoy Working Under A Weasley_ was splashed across the cover with a verity of photos of Malfoy and one of him.

"What?" Ginny screeched, turning on her heel and glaring at her own brother. She checked her watch. "I have to go but I want to hear about this later." She exclaimed as she backed out of the room.

"It wasn't me." Harry snapped defensively when he realized who George's eyes were looking at him.

"Only a couple days after you found out, and now, it's splashed across the headlines." George accused leaning on the table.

"I'm the last person who would go to the press." Harry defended himself.

"You're... right." George sighed in acceptance. He knew how much the press harassed the boy and he would never wish it on another. "Who did you tell?"

"Just Ron and Hermione," Harry responded pointing across the table.

"I didn't say anything," Hermione answered. Looking at her boyfriend who just fidgeted under her stare. "Oh Ron. You didn't?"

"I just mentioned it to Seamus over a pint after training." Ron shrugged sheepishly. "I didn't know it was a secret."

Harry rubbed his temples. "Seamus is the worst person you could've told."

"Why?" Ron asked confused.

"He is dating Lavender Brown." Hermione spat with exasperation. "She is the worst gossip I have ever met. Doesn't help she is doing an internship with the Daily Prophet."

"There's nothing we can really do now that the information is out there."

"At least I know where the leak is now." George shot a glare at his youngest brother who looked sheepish. "I'm just worried about the attention this article draws to Malfoy." George exclaimed. The article had not been the kindest about the Malfoy heir. It dug up his involvement in the war again just as people were starting to forget.

Mrs. Weasley wondered over from her position by the stove. She was serving a pan of scrambled eggs out to everyone one. She made sure to give Harry a fare amount. "I know the boy hasn't always been the nicest and he'd done some awful things. I can't believe the boy's own mother just up and abandoned him like that."

"Don't speak badly about Mrs. Malfoy." Harry admonished the women. "I wouldn't be alive without her. She loves her son dearly "

"I wouldn't phrase it that way either." George shook his head at her description. "Draco explained to me that his mother practically begged him to go to France with her but he was stubborn and stayed behind."

"Still, the boy has no family he can truly turn to. The closest thing is Andromeda and they're estranged from each other. I don't think they've ever even met." Molly said since she thought family was the most important thing. "I want you to bring Mr. Malfoy to Sunday brunch," Molly suggested suddenly.

"No." George shook his head adamantly.

"I'd pay to see that," Ron commented, amused by the mere suggestion. Having Malfoy here at his home eating amongst them.

"If the boy is going to be working with my son I want to properly meet him." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed, waving her own copy of the paper in her son's face. The photograph Malfoy stumbled like the ground was shaking. He shook his fist in the air indignantly.

"I think it would take a lot of convincing to get Draco to come to dinner at the Burrow." George replied grabbing his mother's wrist to stop the movement. "It's very unlikely."

"Just tell the boy he has an open invitation." Mrs. Weasley informed him.

"Fine." George shrugged. "For now I guess I'll just try and keep Draco at the shop." Hermione was right, there was nothing he could do now that the news was out. "I have to go now and intercept Malfoy from reading the Prophet." George slapped Ron in the back of the head with the rolled up paper on his way out.

"Hey!" Ron snapped, rubbing the back of his head.

"It's your own fault." Hermione pointed out sipping her tea.

                                                                                                               ...

Draco was just putting the kettle on for tea when George floo-ed in.

"You've been up long?" George asked as he stepped out from out of the fireplace.

"No. Slept through my alarm. Why?" Draco asked leaning against the counter.

"No reason." George shrugged while he looked around the apartment for the paper. He spotted this mornings daily prophet on the coffee table where Missy had placed it. Stealthily he snatched the paper and threw it in the fire while Malfoy was busy pouring his tea. The paper started to burn quickly.

"I guess I'm ready to get to work now," Draco exclaimed as he walked over with his warm cup of tea.

"Let's get going then." George led the blonde away from the fireplace so he wouldn't see the burning paper. By the time they were done working it would only be ashes.

                                                                                                       o0o

Draco was setting out all of the ingredients for making _Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher_. Opening the drawer labeled Baneberrry he slammed it closed again when he realized it was empty. He'd used the last of it and had forgotten to write it down. "I need to get some more ingredients," Draco exclaimed to his partner writing out what he was running out of on a scrap piece of paper.

"I'll do that." George plucked the list from his fingers. He didn't want to risk anyone harassing Malfoy while he was running an errand.

For the next week or so he stealthily volunteered to run out to buy more ingredients. Every time Draco even volunteered to fetch food, ingredients or leave the shop for some fresh air. He would distract him if he had to. He could tell that Malfoy was suspicious by his actions but after a while, he stopped asking questions.

                                                                                                      .0.

"Dammit!" Draco swore as he looked through the ingredients he had available. He counted a couple times.

"What?" George asked from where he had been working charming some more invisible hats.

"I don't have enough Wormwood to finish off the Skiving snack boxes." Draco sighed, he hated starting a potion and not being able to finish it. The cauldron was already bubbling away.

"I can go get some." George offered.

"No, I'll go. You're busy." Draco denied the offer.

George thought it over. He was right in the middle of charming some Sheild Hats. It had already been two weeks since the article had come out. "Fine." George sighed and reached into his robes to retrieve money for the materials.

Draco grabbed his robe from the apartment and left the shop with a small amount of Galleons George supplied him with for the ingredients.

It wasn't until he was already strutting down Diagon Alley that Draco realized he hadn't been outside of the Joke Shop since he had originally moved in. Whenever they had needed anything George usually immediately jumped up and offered to fetch whatever it was.

"If it isn't Malfoy Jr." A voice mocked stepping out from an alley. Stopping the blonde in his tracks.

Draco looked up nervously. There were four young adults blocking his place. "Just let me by."

"I don't think so." The one that must be the leader stated. The young man towered over the Slytherin as he backed him up into a wall…

                                                                                                       ...

The bell rang when Malfoy returned.

When George peeked out of his office, he noticed Malfoy had no shopping bags in his hand and he had his head facing the floor as he walked. George found it weird behavior. "I thought you were getting ingredients?" When the blonde ignored his question and picked up his speed headed for the stairs; George pushed off the door frame and stalked over.

Draco tried to slip up to his apartment before his boss saw him but his George grabbed him by the arm to stop his retreat. He looked at Weasley's face in defeat.

George hissed when he saw the state Malfoy was in. "What happened?" There was black eye forming, a couple scraped and bruises. He also had a cut going through his right eyebrow. His robes were ribbed in places like Malfoy had been held down and had to struggle to get away.

It was like the first day he had saved him all over again.

"I was jumped by some people on the way to the apothecary," Draco admitted with a sigh.

George grabbed his chin and looked over the injuries. Malfoy slapped his probing hands lightly away. "Come on let's get you cleaned up." George led the blonde the rest of the way up the stairs.

When they entered the apartment George dragged the blonde to the bathroom. He sat Malfoy down on the toilet seat and dug around through the medicine cabinet for the first aid kit. Flipping it open he got out some bandages and salves

Draco hissed as the potion was spread over the cut. It stung making his eyes water.

"I'm no healer. This will have to do." George claimed as he spread the Band-Aid over the scrape. "I don't have anything for that bruise, though."

"I'll brew something in the morning," Draco exclaimed as he examined the damage to his face in the mirror.

                                                                                                    .0.

Pushing the curtain out of the way Harry entered the work room. He was just about to start in on the Slytherin when he caught sight of his face. "What the fuck happened to you?" Harry gasped when he noticed the black eye and split lip.

"Some people don't appreciate my presence." Draco hunched his shoulders over the small cauldron, uncomfortably at the topic being brought up. He had been in the middle of brewing some bruise paste, hoping to apply it before anyone else saw him.

"You should be more careful," Harry warned him. He really didn't like that Malfoy was being harassed.

"It's not like I ask for it. I'm just really recognizable with this stupid hair." Draco snapped pointing to his white-blonde locks. It marked him clearly as a Malfoy. Anyone could spot him from a mile away.

Rolling his eyes Harry pulled something out of his pocket and pulled it over Malfoy's head. "It's called a hat." He said sarcastically. It was such a simple solution. Malfoy looked so normal with his air covered by the grey wool. In school he always remembered Malfoy wearing fur hats, he was sure the Slytherin had pawned the clothes for money at some point since he didn't have them anymore.

"I should have thought of that." Draco readjusted the knitted cap that covered all of his hair. He went to take it off to return it but Potter stopped him by grabbing his wrist.

"Keep it. It looks better on you than me anyway." Harry offered. It was one of the hats that Mrs. Weasley had knitted for him for Christmas. He found the colour always washed him out but he had grabbed it that morning because it was warm. The grey did the opposite to Malfoy and actually brought out some warmth in his skin and made his eyes look more blue than grey compared to the colour of the wool.

"Thanks." Draco looked at Potter questionably, wondering what his reason for this could be.

For the next couple days, Potter was strangely nice to him. That is until his bruises fully healed, then he was an ass again.

                                                                                                        …

Harry tried to wrap is scarf around his head to cover his ears. They felt like they were going to fall off. It was getting cold enough at night you can see your breath.

As the training went along they were allowing them to do actual cases though only the really small things. They were trying to give them experience in a wide variety of things. He'd been paired off with Lee Jordon for a night mission.

They were on a stake out trying to catch a worker who had been suspected of stealing from a warehouse he worked at. As long as there was no possible danger the Senior Aurors allowed them to do them unsupervised. Any small complaints like this the aurors usually left to the trainees because no one wanted to do them.

"Where's your hat?" Jordon asked as he rubbed his hands together for warmth. He was wearing a thick wool cap that was stretched over his dreadlocks.

"Left it at home," Harry replied as he reapplied his warming charm again.

**...TBC  
**

 


	4. Cake

 

o0o

Turning around Draco jumped when he saw someone standing right behind him. "What the hell are you doing here Potter?" Draco snapped grabbing his chest to calm his fast beating heart. "Again?"

"Just checking up." Harry replied, leaning against the wall with a pleased smirk.

Draco narrowed his eyes in annoyance. "As you can see I'm not performing some dark ritual." He held his arms out to show he wasn't hiding anything.

"I don't know…" Harry said sarcastically stroking his chin in contemplation. Laughing lightly at the indignant look on the Slytherin's face. He'd been stopping by the shop to taunt the blonde as much as possible. Malfoy was just too fun to tease.

"Are you just living up to your name?" Draco asked bitterly. It seemed like every time he needed to concentrate the Golden Boy would show up to badger him.

"What are you talking about?' Harry asked confused scratching at his messy hair. From what he knew his name meant many things like; war chief, house protector, mighty in war, and leader of an army. He was here alone here and not ganging up on the Slytherin.

"Harry as a verb means to pester or annoy." Draco poked the Gryffindor in the chest aggressively. Harry rubbed his chest since it actually hurt. "Leave. I'm working." Draco pushed Potter out of the way so he could get to his cauldron that he'd been blocking the path to. He didn't want to screw up the potion since he'd been working all morning on it.

"You don't mean that. You'd get lonely." Harry followed the blonde who whipped around to glare at him. He smirked waiting for the witty response. Bantering with the prickly Slytherin had become one of his favorite parts of his day.

George rolled his eyes as he walked in on the two bickering. "Harry leave Malfoy alone." He leaned against the doorway with a look of contemplation. Over the last few days, he'd caught his friend departing the work room leaving behind a severely annoyed blonde.

"Fine. I have to get back to work anyway." Harry turned on his heel with a mischievous look on his face.

"Don't you have a kitten to save from a tree?" Draco called after him, with a smug look on his face at his comeback.

"Ha, ha, ha. Very funny." Harry didn't want to admit that Malfoy's jest was very close to what was expected of him right now. Their assignment at the moment was to wonder the Diagon Alley and assist anyone who needed help. He had even helped an old lady across the street earlier that morning.

o0o

Looking through the ingredient cabinet Draco mumbled under his breath.

George was going to announce his presence but just stopped and watched his employee.

He checked the recipe book again. "No Draco, its four Doxy Eggs not five." He berated himself putting the extra ingredient back.

"Are you talking to yourself?" George asked in amusement.

Draco jumped at the sudden voice behind him. He thought he was completely alone. "Well I'm back here all day alone with just Potters visits for company." He shrugged leaning against the work table.

"I know what you mean. I'm a social creature too." George nodded in understanding. When he had seen the Slytherin at school he was usually surrounded by his class mates who hung on his every word. It must be hard for him to have no one to communicate with on a constant basis.

...

A day or so later when Draco was going over inventory his boss entered the work with a pleased look on his face.

"I've got something for you." George claimed. After the blonde had been assaulted he had gone into a slight depression. He decided to do something to cheer him up. The talk they'd had gave him an idea.

Draco rolled his chair back to look at the red head suspiciously. "If it's another jumping snake I will not be pleased."

"No. I wouldn't try the same joke twice." George denied the accusation. He uncapped his hands and presented his gift to the blonde.

Draco starred at the Puffkin in surprise. It had bright yellow fur that was similar to the original puffskeins tone but had green tinted skin for some reason. Gingerly he reached his hand out to receive the animal. The yellow ball of fur climbed out into his cupped palms. "Why?" Draco asked curiously.

"I just figured if you needed to talk as you work you might as well have something to talk at so you don't seem crazy." George exclaimed with a bright smile.

"Why isn't it pink or purple?" Draco asked curiously. He knew the shop breaded these for the Wonder Witch line.

"I couldn't get this one to change colour. It defective I guess. Since I couldn't put it in the shop I figured I'd give it to you." Not really; George just knew that the blond would never accept one in such a girly colour. He made one especially for Malfoy, with the original coloring of a golden yellow with some changes here or there. He'd tried to charm the rodent green but instead it had come out with green skin. It was good enough though.

"Thank you." Draco gave a bright smile as the puffkin purred under his light strokes.

"You're welcome." George replied slipping out of the room.

"Now what am I going to name you?" Draco asked the little hair ball.

                                              

o0o

Stirring the cauldron he checked the colour finding it the right tone he took the stirring rod out. Looking at his pocket watch He sighed tiredly, he'd been working for a couple hours now and it wasn't even noon yet. "Missy." Draco called.

The house elf popped into the middle of the room in all of her pink glory. "Yes, Master Draco. What can Missy do for you?"

"Can I get some Earl grey tea?" Draco asked. With a wave of Missy's toy wand a steaming pot of tea with chocolate biscuits appeared on the work table. The elf must have had it pre-prepared. "You know me too well already."

"Master Draco never misses his mid-morning tea." Missy replied fiddling with the plastic wand that jingled as she turned it over in her hands. She curtsied them popped back to her place in the storage room now that she wasn't needed any more. George had placed a child's play house there for the house elf to live in.

With a light smile Draco walked over to the tray and poured himself some tea. He nibbled on a chocolate biscuit as he waited for the beverage to cool down. Picking up his new favorite cup with the chip on the rim he turned to get back to work since the potion would need tending to.

Draco stopped mid step when he saw who was standing in the doorway. "Weasley, what are you doing here?"

"I had to see it for myself to believe it." Ron exclaimed as he stepped into the work room. Looking around cautiously like he was entering enemy territory.

Draco noticed there was no hint of surprise in the Weasels tone of finding him at his brother's shop. Unlike the rage that a certain someone had gone into, meaning Weasley had time to process. "Potter told you. Of course he did since you're all attached at hip along with Granger." He scowled and rolled his eyes at the Scar Heads predictable behavior.

"Yes Harry did." Ron decided not to mention the papers had caught wind of Malfoy working at the shop. He knew George had been confiscating the Prophet before the Slytherin could read it. "Red looks awful on you." Ron exclaimed elatedly to change the topic.

"It's magenta." Draco snapped defensively at the slight against his appearance. He readjusted his work robes self-consciously. The red head was dressed in the same grey training robes as Potter usually wore but had a yellow arm band instead of a red one. It must symbolise he was in his first year of training instead of the second.

"Ron, I was wondering where you got to." Hermione pushed aside the curtain. She heard her boyfriend's voice talking to someone else. She'd had her suspicions when Ron had slipped away and she had been proven right.

"Speak of the devil." Draco whispered under his breath so only the red head could hear.

"What?" Ron inquired not hearing the Slytherin properly.

"If one should appear the others are not far behind." Draco alleged snarkily.

She walked over and looped her arm through her boyfriends. "Malfoy, it's nice to see you again." Hermione greeted their ex-class mate.

"You too Granger." Draco replied with over enthusiasm with a fake smile on his face.

"What are you working on?" Hermione asked curiously, trying to peak into the cauldron.

"Just some weather in a bottle." Draco replied tersely. Irritated that they were disturbing his work. It was bad enough when Potter did it.

"So this is where you all got to." George exclaimed as he entered the room. "I turned around and you were all just gone."

"Weasley here was just trying to bug me." Draco scowled and crossed his arms.

"Come on Draco. You got to start calling my family by our first names." George suggested seriously. He hadn't brought up the invite yet with the Slytherin. If Malfoy ever did come to dinner at the Burrow it would be supper confusing if he didn't break the blonde of his habit. "It'll get super confusing if you address us all as Weasley."

With a curl of his upper lip Draco forced out the name "Ron" passed his lips.

"Now Ron you need to reciprocate." George enforced while turning to his brother.

"No!" Ron snapped. "Why should I? You aren't the boss of me."

"If you don't, I'll make you pay for the Fanged Frisbee you slipped into your pocket." George pointed at his brother with narrowed eyes. "Just because we're family does not mean you can pickpocket in my store without paying a fee."

Ron pursed his lips when he realized he'd been caught somehow. Ron was sure that George had been in his office and none the wiser. With great reluctance and a huge effort Ron barked out "Draco."

"There, that wasn't so hard now was it?" George clapped them both on the shoulder. They both glared daggers at him.

Draco shrugged his bosses hand off his shoulder. "Is there a reason you're here?" Looking suspiciously at the other half of the golden trio. "What, Potter couldn't make it today so he sent you two in his place." Draco narrowed his eyes.

"Hey guys." Harry greeted as he walked in.

Draco threw up his arms and stomped his feet. "I can't deal with your combined powers of annoyance in this area." He marched dramatically out of the room leaving the curtain flapping in his wake. One or two Gryffindors he could deal with at a time but not double that number.

"We're just meeting for lunch." Harry exclaimed out loud in confusion at the blonde's reaction to his entrance. He knew he'd been a slight pain lately but it was all in good fun.

"Let's go. We want to beat the lunch rush at the Leaky." George started to herd everyone out of the Slytherin's territory. He used the work room so seldom recently he thought of the room as Malfoy's, since he usually used his own office. "Once we leave Draco can get back to work."

.

They were seated in one of the booths at the Leaky Cauldron by a young waitress. She kept fluttering her eyelashes at Harry who was oblivious to her advances. "Can I get you anything to drink?"

"Were all ready to order." Harry informed, they came so often they had the menu memorized. The waitress wrote down there orders while not taking her eyes off him. She left and returned with their drink orders immediately. Another patron waved her over so she had to leave.

"So how is it working with Malfoy? Hermione inquired, taking a sip of her water.

"It's been great actually. I don't know what I would've done if I hadn't stumbled across him." George exclaimed brightly. "I didn't think we'd get on but he's actually a good mate."

"He didn't seem so friendly back there." Ron exclaimed between bites.

"Draco hasn't been broken in quite yet. He is like a stray cat." George exclaimed as an example.

"What feral?" Ron asked mockingly, taking a sip of his butter beer.

"You feed him and he's yours forever." Harry added in, enjoying ribbing the blonde even though he wasn't there to witness it.

That brought to mind the sandwich that George had given Malfoy when he thought he was looking to skinny. Which wasn't a situation to joke about, though he knew Harry didn't know about it. "What I mean is, he just isn't used to being around you guys yet. I've spent hours working with him now, we've come to an understanding."

"Too many Gryffindor's." Harry added in.

"Exactly." George nodded. "Malfoy just feels a little, out of place. A cat in a sea of dogs."

"Shouldn't it be a snake in a sea of lions?" Ron asked confused.

"I was trying to stick with the stray cat eulogy." George explained with a role of his eyes.

"I get what you're trying to say." Hermione patted his hand in commiserate that they both had to deal with the two idiots. "Malfoy is surrounding by people who he used to consider his enemies. His friends have all skipped the country. It makes him seem…"She tried to find the word.

"Prickly." Harry offered up. They all nodded that it was a good description. When Malfoy was around anyone but George he had his hackles up like he was waiting for an attack. Harrying was sure his pestering wasn't helping in that department. He just didn't feel like he could straight up talk normally to the Slytherin after years of animosity between them.

"Your food." The waitress was back with their orders. She placed the plates down in front of them. Hermione and George had to switch because they'd been given the wrong meals. Ron complained because he'd been given a salad as a side instead off the baked potato he had order. The only one who had everything right was Harry.

The waitress stood there hovering beside the table as if waiting for acknowledgement.

"Can we help you?" Hermione asked with narrowed eyes. The young waitress blushed and made her way back to the kitchen. "I can't believe the way she's treating Harry like he's some god or something. You're a person too." She huffed as she stabbed her salad aggressively with her fork.

"Thanks Hermione." Harry smiled at his friend's indignation on his part. "I was hoping that people would be over the hero worship by now. It's been two years since the battle." He sighed moving his food around with his fork.

"She's just a little starry eyed." George exclaimed between chews of his Shepard's pie. "She wants to have your babies." He jibbed with enthusiasm making the brunet blush.

"The sad thing is, that that is probably true." Hermione sighed at the silliness of her gender some times. Looking at one of her best friends since child hood she could see how much he had changed since he first entered the wizard world a scrawny boy. "I don't think your fame is the only reason. You have grown up to be very hansom man."

"Yeah, maybe she just wants you for your looks." Ron teased with his mouth still full of roast beef.

"That's enough guys." Harry smiled enjoying his friends making light of the situation. It was seriously crazy the attention he still received though. After receiving dozens of naked photos and marriage proposals from women and girls alike, he'd had to ward against any unknown sender. Anyone he actually wanted to hear from had to be keyed in.

"Harry what is with you hanging around the shop all the time?" George asked, taking the chance to inquire.

"I'm just visiting you." Harry replied self-consciously.

"Huh well, I seem to remember you seldom visiting until you discovered Malfoy was working for me." George looked at him pointedly. "I don't know if I should feel offended because you aren't actually there to see me."

"I…" Harry took a bite of his burger so he wouldn't have to reply. He couldn't answer if he didn't truly know.

George narrowed his eyes at obvious avoidance.

o0o

Draco was performing his normal morning routine.

Filling the cauldron with water and lighting the base. He was checking the list he made about what the shop needed done to decide what potion he would brew that day. Looking it over, he realized something.

Checking it twice again just to make sure; he felt like Santa Claus.

Realizing what this meant he immediately dashed out of the work room to inform his boss.

.

Suddenly the office door opened.

George tried to hide what he had been doing. Grabbing a random sheet of paper and a quill to look like he'd been doing work. Looking up George sighed in relief. "Oh it's just you." He dropped the pretence and let the writing utensil drop to the desk. "I thought you were Verity."

"Why would it be so bad if I was Verity?" Draco asked letting the door swing shut behind him.

"She doesn't like it when I slack off." George shrugged and propped his head up on his hands. The blonde women had been hanging out more and more around the shop as they got closer to reopening. She claimed she was familiarizing herself with the products so she could be the best sales women.

"What were you doing?" Draco asked curiously.

"Playing solitary." George replied with a mischievous smirk.

"Where are the cards?" Draco asked looking at his clear desk surface in confusion.

"It's on a com-put-er." George exclaimed with wide eyes, gesturing to the muggle technology. "Isn't it great?"

"How does it work?" Draco asked curiously. Walking around the desk he leaned over his bosses shoulder to view the screen. It had a random image of George with his brother Fred standing in front of the shop with some small icons scattered over the left side. He wasn't sure what any of them meant.

George rolled his chair up to the desk. "Well first you take the mouse…" He reopened the window he'd hidden.

"Mouse, where?" Draco squeaked looking at the floor for any sign of the rodent. When he didn't see anything he sighed in relief.

George gave the blonde a suspicious look. "Are you afraid of mice?" He probed, latching onto the Slytherin's reaction.

"What- no." Draco denied the accusation with a pursed expression.

"You are aren't you?" George smirked as he rolled his chair out with glee. The blonde sighed in defeat when the red head started to laugh.

"They are unhygienic, ok." Draco snapped crossing his arms defensively.

"Well at least you're not as bad as Ron." George wiped his eyes as he chuckled. He noticed the blonde's pursed brow that he didn't understand the reference. "He's dead afraid of spiders; sequels and shrieks if he thinks any are even near him." He wiggled his fingers in the hair to gesture the crawling.

"I'll make sure to take note for future reference." Draco replied flatly.

"What are you doing down here?" George asked curiously, usually he had to go find the Slytherin if he wanted to talk to him. The blonde had only been in his office a handful of times since he'd started working here a month ago. A lot of the times if they had to have a talk about productivity, they had it in the apartment over a glass of fire whiskey.

"We're done." Draco leaned forward on the desk.

"What?" George looked blankly at the blonde blankly. Usually the only time he heard those words was when a girl was breaking up with him.

"The shop is now fully restocked." Draco slid the list that he had been keeping every item that had been responsible to make. He'd also been keeping track of some of the products that George had been charming.

"Really?" George asked sitting up in surprise from his relaxed position in his chair. He pulled the parchment closer to himself to see for himself. The list was long including all of their current products with amount needed written beside them. When he had originally seen the Slytherin write the list he felt like they would never complete it. It reminded him of one of Hermione's essays.

Now everything was crossed out in red ink.

"By my calculation he have enough made to fill the store and some for restocking the shelves." Draco exclaimed.

"So you think we can reopen the store front?" George asked in surprise.

"I think we can reopen the store front, unless you have any ideas for new products that you'd like to include?" Draco inquired.

George hadn't come up with any new ideas since the death of his brother. There was one thing he'd been working on though. "I think we should put your idea into production." George looked intently at the Slytherin.

"What idea?" Draco asked confused.

"The bad wizard chocolate of course." George replied with an exasperated tone.

"I was just …spitting random ideas." Draco replied surprised.

"I thought it was a great idea, and I still do." George reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a journal he used for sketching out ideas. "I've been working on it in my spare time. I've made a list of possible candidates with a short story and what the chocolate will take shape as."

"You even sketched out the layout for the packaging already." Draco flipped through the journal surprised how much his boss had taken his idea to heart. "It'll be a lot of work though. We have to make multiple chocolate molds, find and get the rights to numerous reference pictures to go on the cards."

"Every new product is lot of work but once the initial work is done it's easy to make more." George shrugged. This had been the first product he had truly been excited about in months.

"Do you know a printing house that can do this?" Draco inquired.

"Let me worry about all the packaging. The only part I need you to complete is make the chocolate." George pointed at his potion master. "Leave the charming up to me."

"Ok." Draco sighed. Not wanting to burst his bosses bubble. "I'm not a chocolatier you know?" The product would be nothing if it didn't taste good.

"You eat enough of it you should be considered an expert." George poked fun at the blonde's chocolate fixation. He'd noticed over the past couple weeks how he always asked Missy for Chocolate biscuits.

"We should have a drink to celebrate." George exclaimed. Pulling open the bottom drawer he retrieved a bottle of fire whiskey he kept for emergencies. Placing two shot glasses on his desk he poured out two stemming portions.

"You do realize it is…" Draco checked his ornate pocket watch. "Half past nine in the morning. Isn't it a little early to get sloshed?"

"It's never too early." George exclaimed with conviction offering the glass to the blonde.

Draco raised a platinum eyebrow. 'One couldn't hurt.' He thought, shruging and plucked the shot.

Clinking the shot glasses together to celebrate a job well done they threw them back.

George felt a pleasant buzz from the alcohol. A pleasant relaxed feeling came over him and his mind wondered. "Wait, I just thought of something." George scribbled out a new idea to the bottom of the worst wizard list he'd already made. He flipped the journal around letting the Slytherin see.

Draco actually had to muffle a snort into his hand. "He's going to kill you."

"The whole point is to rile him up." George smirked deviously.

o0o

George decided he wanted to have a small party to celebrate just inviting some friends and family. The next morning the shop would officially be reopened so he couldn't get too sloshed. The party was on a Monday night, since a lot of stores were closed that day it didn't seem weird for them to reopen on a Tuesday. It would strictly be to enjoy each other's company and to show off some new products.

He couldn't convince Malfoy to come to the grand reopening of the shop. Now that the secret was out publicly he didn't see the point in hiding the Slytherin. If anyone had a problem with Draco they would have to answer to him.

Looking from the second floor George smiled at the large group of people. It seemed like it had been a long time since the shop had been filled to the brim. It had stood empty for years during the war and after. The shop was filled with life again.

"Where's blondie?" Verity asked with a pout as she walked up. Not seeing their fellow employee anywhere in the sea of guests. Since she'd been hanging around the shop over the past week she'd gotten to know the boy. When they'd been at Hogwarts together she'd been a seventh year while Malfoy had been a first so he was below her notice then. She had already grown fond of the snarky Slytherin.

"Calling the kettle black aren't you?" George asked sarcastically referring to the women's own platinum blondness. "Draco is hiding."

"Hiding?" Harry asked overhearing the tail end of their conversation as he approached. "Who's hiding?"

"Malfoy of course." George sighed in resignation. He realized it was daunting to be confronted by so many people from the other side of the war. "I don't think he's ready to be confronted by everyone."

"I can understand that." Harry nodded in empathy, looking over the crowd that was 80% redheads. "Even I feel a little out of place."

"It isn't my fault my whole family decided to come." George shrugged. He'd sent invitations to a couple of friends from school which showed up with maybe a date or a plus one. Though his family thought if you invited one Weasley they were all invited. It was like Fleur and Bills wedding again except with less blondes.

Draco's absence made it even fewer George thought. The only blondes in attendance were actually Verity, Lavender, Luna Lovegood, and Fleur who had come with his brother. All the other guests who weren't family members had brown or black hair.

"I feel like I should dye my hair." Harry exclaimed sarcastically taking a sip of his butter beer.

"Don't do it. You don't have the skin tone to pull it off." Verity patted him on the shoulder then floundered off once see saw someone she wanted to talk to on the other end of the room.

"Isn't that Charlie?" Harry asked watching the blonde twirl her hair as she flirted with the elder Weasley child who looked a little flummoxed.

"Yes. Verity had a crush on him the moment she saw Charlie at a Christmas party." George sighed in exasperation. He had been harboring a light crush on Verity for years but she never seemed to notice him that way. "What does he have that I don't?"

"Well, Charlie has major sex appeal with the dragon trainer thing." Harry shrugged gesturing with his half empty bottle. "The danger aspect attracts them."

"I should just dash her hopes, and tell her Charlie is gay." George exclaimed petulantly.

"Is that true?" Harry asked with a raised eyebrow. He could have sworn he'd seen the dragon trainer making out with a busty women before.

"No." George admitted reluctantly, rolling his eyes. "Charlie is bisexual."

"Oh, so Verity has a chance." Harry jested slapping the red heads shoulder in jest.

"I've had enough of you." George walked off in a huff. He received congratulations as he walked through the crowd. Since it was the grand re-opening he had some free samples of the products set out on a table. He noticed his youngest brother and his girlfriend hovering by a certain section.

"These are very clever. How'd you come up with the idea?" Hermione asked holding up one of the Worst Wizard chocolates. She was reading the card that came with it - previously featuring a chocolate Dragon that had apparently eaten the wizard on the card.

"I didn't." George smirked, leaving them to fill in the blank.

"You mean Malfoy came up with this?" Ron asked around a mouthful of chocolate. He'd already eaten four boxes. Spitting it back out into the colourful wrapper on principle. Nothing the Ferret came up with could be good.

"He did indeed. Just came up with it on the spot." George exclaimed proudly. "I think a Slytherin was just what this business needed. Gonna have to pick Malfoy's brain for more idea's in the future."

Verity giggled loudly drawing there attention, at what the she was talking with in clear view of Charlie, hoping to make the dragon tamer jealous.

"I see Verity is back." Hermione commented with a pursed expression.

"What's with that tone?" George asked interestedly. "It seems a little catty."

"I'm just a little surprised you rehired her." Hermione commented.

"Why?" George leaned in curiously for her explanation.

"I don't know, she seems a little ditsy." Hermione tried to explain her feelings of the other woman.

"She's the perfect sales women." George exclaimed with a shrug.

"In what way?" Hermione asked crossing her arms.

"Children like Verity because she has the mentality of one, and men like to stare at her boobs." George leered. The young woman was very well endowed in that area naturally. A lot of males bought products just so that she would talk to them, even if it was just "That'll be 3 sickles..."

Hermione slapped Ron hard against the chest when she realized he was doing just that at the moment. The red heads eyes were zoned in on the generous cleavage the women's robes showed.

"What was that for?" Ron asked rubbing his chest. He had to admit that his girlfriend had a good arm, probably from carrying so many books. He couldn't imagine how much it must have hurt when she punched Malfoy in the face.

"You know what it was for." Hermione snapped turning on her heel and stomping away in a huff.

"I better go deal with that." Ron sighed and followed after his girlfriend. Ready to grovel at her feet for forgiveness.

George shook his head fondly at the couple's squabbling. He was glad his brother fond someone. Once he lost sight of the snipping couple he spotted his parents making their way through the crowd towards them. "Mum." He smiled as he was embraced tightly. He nodded at his father over his mother's shoulder in greeting who smiled back.

"I'm so proud of you." Mrs. Weasley claimed kissing him on the cheek a few times.

"Mom." George cried struggling to get out of her grip. He rubbed his cheek with his sleeve looking around to see if anyone had seen the loving display.

"Oh you'll always be my little boy." Mrs. Weasley claimed, stepping back. Looking around she frowned when she didn't see what she was looking for. "Where's the Malfoy boy? I wish to have a word with him."

"Oh aww." George rubbed the back of his neck. He didn't think it would be the best idea to tell his mother he was just upstairs. Draco wasn't ready to have Molly Weasley released on him. The coddling would scare the wits out of the emotionally stunted youth. "Malfoy had to go, deal with some emergency at the bank." The Slytherin didn't have a vault anymore so it was completely untrue.

"That's too bad. I was really hoping to speak with him." Mrs. Weasley sighed in disappointment. "Any way, I got a surprise for you." His mum whispered loudly.

"What is it?" George asked curiously.

"It's a surprise." Mrs. Weasley covered his eyes and led him towards a table. When her hands were removed there was a large sheet cake in front of George with chocolate frosting and purple piping. It had three large gold W's written across it to represent the name of the shop. "Mom, it's great." George willingly kissed his mother on the cheek.

They started to serve it out to all the quests. It started to disappear quickly. George thought of the lonely blonde upstairs. He knew he would never be forgiven if he heard there was cake and he wasn't saved a piece.

Cutting a large corner piece and placing it on a plate. He left the party and headed up to the top floor.

Knocking on the door, it was inched opened. Malfoy peaked through the sliver to see who it was. George held the cake out for him to see and it was snatched; he suspected Malfoy was using his seeker reflexes. "Are you sure you don't want to come down stairs? This is mostly thanks to your hard work."

"I'm fine where I am." Draco claimed. He shoved a forkful of cake in his mouth so he didn't have to talk anymore. George gave him a disbelieving look but headed back to the party alone.

Draco shut the door blocking out the majority of the noise. He called missy to bring him a pot of tea. Sitting in his favorite seat in the blue high back chair by the fire.

He could hear a cheer as George returned to his adoring fans.

...

Draco tried to turn his attention back to his book. The loud noises from the party happening downstairs were distracting though. He swore he'd read the same page three times already without absorbing any of the content.

Throwing the potion tomb away from himself he leaned back in the chair with a deep sigh.

He knew he didn't have to keep himself locked away up here from everyone else, but Draco just didn't feel like he could join them just yet. He wasn't one of them. The war was too fresh in everyone's minds and he'd been on the other side of it. Realizing he'd subconsciously been scratching at his dark mark Draco sat on his hands.

The door was suddenly pushed open and he could hear heavy footsteps enter the apartment. "George..." Draco was going to tell his boss to go back to the party when I realized it was Potter standing there with his hands behind his back.

The brunette shrugged and approached him. "I hear you're hiding." Harry exclaimed, leaning over the back of Malfoy's chair.

"I just didn't want to go." Draco crossed his arms defensively. He wasn't even sure if he was telling the truth. "You should go back to the party." He'd grown used to the Scar head's presence but he didn't feel like it right now.

"Aww come on. Let me stay." Harry begged trying to make his eyes big behind his glasses. He noticed that the blonde was in his night clothes meaning he never intended to go.

"Why should I let you?" Draco asked, crossing his arms and raising one superior platinum eye brow.

"Because I bring cake." Harry held the desert out in front of the blonde that he'd been hiding behind his back. He'd felt a little bad about his teasing lately. It was just too fun to see the blonde's dramatic reactions to his ribbing.

"Oh you know my weakness." Draco exclaimed dramatically, clutching at his heart. Snatching the cake quickly from Potter's grip. Taking the fork in hand he sliced a generous chunk and popped it in his mouth. Letting out a groan in pleasure.

"What, sugar?" Harry asked raising an eyebrow as he watched the blonde eat greedily. It surprised him how much gumption the Slytherin ate the desert. He always thought that the Slytherin would have perfect manors with his upbringing. He poured himself a cup of tea before sitting on the purple couch.

Draco shook his head then swallowed. "No, Chocolate." He licked some of the chocolate frosting off his lips that had smeared there. Then the fork clean for good measure.

Harry found his eyes following the tongue. He had to shake his head to snap himself back to reality. He noticed the empty plate then on the side table then. "I didn't realize George had already brought you a piece."

"Yeah, he tried to use it to encourage me to go to the party." Draco answered then shoveled another forkful in.

"How are you so skinny? You just finished off two generous servings of Mrs. Weasley's double fudge chocolate cake." Harry shook his head in amazement.

"Just blessed with good genes I guess." Draco shrugged his slender shoulders. Sighing when he realized he'd eaten all the cake. Taking his finger he collected some of the left over frosting on his finger and sucked on it. If Potter wasn't here he might even be tempted to lick the plate clean. "Dam that women can bake." He placed the now empty plate on top of the other with a sigh of contentment.

"Yeah, Mrs. Weasley is very talented." Harry nodded in agreement taking a sip of the warm tea.

"What made you think to bring me a piece?" Draco inquired curiously. He noticed the light blush on the Gryffindor's olive skin. "Aww, were you being nice." He teased making the savior squirm in his seat.

Harry avoided eye contact not sure why he felt it was something he had to do. "Geese I gotta pee, dam tea." Harry exclaimed openly. The hot beverage went right through him which is why he preferred coffee or even hot chocolate.

"Too much information Potter." Draco wrinkled his nose with disgust. Pointing with his thumb. "The bathrooms through there."

"I know where it is." Harry stood up and walked down the hall leaving the blonde to himself.

After Harry finished relieving himself he decided to snoop around. Opening the medicine cabinet he found normal things. There were tooth brushes, dental floss, and a couple hang over potion. "What? No hair gel?!" Harry called as he poked around through the bathroom.

"Ha ha, very funny!" Draco pursed his lips. He'd stopped wearing so much product in sixth year once he had other things to deal with. Now he didn't feel like he had anyone to impress. "Stop snooping around."

Harry closed the medicine cabinet and opened the bathroom door. He walked down the hallway and back into the main room. Malfoy looked up at him when he heard him enter.

"You've had your tea and enjoyed my company." Draco yawned widely afterwards. He stood up and a stretched. "Now get out."

"What?" Harry was blindsided. "Really, you take my cake then kick me out."

"You get me more chocolate and we'll talk." Draco replied holding the door open. He had to hide another yawn behind his hand.

Harry stood up to leave realizing how tired the Slytherin actually was. "You're just having a sugar crash." He stopped in the door frame and accused. Noticing the once fully awake blonde now yawning and slumping.

"Maybe, good bye Potter." Draco closed the door and locked it. Heading to the bathroom he brushed his teeth and then tucked himself into bed. The sounds of the party happening below lawled him to slumber.

**...TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It took me a while to up date because I visted my friend out of the city last weekend. I got a major Halloween hang over. Never make Crazy Eights a drinking game.  
> I've had most of this written for a while now but some spots felt like they were missing something. Ended up working on some other stories because I felt stuck on this. My random Horcrux story is now 35 pages long and I have no idea where it's going but it's no where near done so you can look forward to that in the future.
> 
> I painted the picture a while ago when I was trying to figure out the visual. It's like a hedge hog with hair.
> 
> ( I want to ask you guys; "What name should Draco's new Puffkin have?" I was leaning towards Lemondrop but I'm not sure. I wanted a food name. I'm open to suggestions.)


	5. Grudge

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know it has been like a month since I've updated this story. I went on vacation to Cuba for a week and it really threw off my work ethic. Not that I haven't been working on my stories but the chapters I was almost finished I got a block on. I couldn't read through it for some reason to just finish it off. That's the problem you get when you have to pause in the middle of working on something because you forget what you were thinking then.  
> I've been working on later chapters and other stories until I felt up to working on this for the past two weeks.  
> The next chapter will be the Christmas one so I have to have it finished by the 25th. That's only like 15 days away. I promise I will try my best and not break this promise. I already have the majority done.

**o0o**

Harry stepped out of the communal fireplaces at the Ministry of Magic. He had to quickly dash out of the way or risk being trampled by other witches and wizards arriving.

One of the things he hated about the ministry was how everyone was always in such a rush.

But since he was in his second year of training Harry didn't have to come into the department often. They received their missions by owl post mostly and met their training auror's in random locations. This day though the whole second year class had been called in to see a special presentation.

He had to push his way through the thick wall of people. This early in the morning everyone was still trying to make their way to work so it was packed. On the way across the atrium he heard his name called. Worried it was someone who recognized him by his scar he turned to see who it was. "Ron." He sighed in relief Pushing his own way through the crowd the tall red head smiled at him.

"Fancy seeing you here." Ron greeted him with a bright smile as he fell into step with him. It felt like he never got to see his best friend anymore with them being in a separate year of training.

"I got an owl this morning about a last minute lecture." Harry replied with a roll of his eyes. He had not been able to properly mentally prepare himself for his sudden trip to the ministry. Whenever he was here he felt like everyone was staring at him. He lowered his head to avoid attention.

"Yes well, some of us actually have to roll out of bed at a decent time," Ron exclaimed with hands on his hips.

"That's Hermione talking, isn't it?" Harry teased his best friend about his strict girlfriend. It was true that as a second year the times he had to roll into training were much later in the day than the first years.

"Yeah, if it was up to me I wouldn't roll out of bed till noon." Ron sighed with exasperation. Every morning Hermione woke up with the sun and dragged his reluctant form after her. She claimed that she wanted to start her day off with him.

They came to a stop by the fountain since there was a clog in the flow of people. "Might as well wait here." Ron sighed. The elevators could never accommodate all the people who were waiting for their turn this time of day. It didn't help that a lot of people jumped the line leaving behind irritated co-workers.

"Don't you think it is a little gaudy?" Harry asked gesturing to the new fountain they were standing by.

"I don't know, having a statue of yourself is very flattering, though I'm not the focus of the piece. That's all you mate." Ron clasped him on the shoulder chuckling to himself.

After they had removed the fountain the Dark Lord had placed they replaced it with one that represented the heroes of the war. When the statue had been revealed Harry had been mortified and had wanted to lock himself in Grimmauld place and never leave it. It featured the golden trio, in no surprise, pure elfin gold in battle poses with a large phoenix behind them of represent the order. There was water flowing from the tip of their wands and out of the tips of the birds wings.

"Living people should never be commemorated like this." Harry shook his head in disgust as he looked up at the fountain again. If it was a statue of say, Dumbledore, maybe he would understand because of how he sacrificed himself for the wizarding world.

It did also serve as a war memorial though. Along the rim of the whole fountain there were names of all the fallen wizards and witches etched into the rim of who had died in the war effort against Voldemort. He stroked Remus Lupin's name that was right next to his parents names; He had the locations of all his loved ones memorized. At least it had that going for it.

"It looks like the lifts are clearing up." Ron pointed out that there were a lot fewer people hovering around. They made their way closer to the elevator area. People watched the little screen avidly as the number at the top moved up and down.

As soon as the doors opened it was a mad dash to get inside. The people exited were practically trampled on their way out. Wizards and witches alike pushed and shoved to received one of the spots inside. Harry made a sad attempt but wasn't assertive enough and the lift doors closed with him on the other side once again. At least now he was closer to the doors.

"This is impossible!" Harry commented to his friend with clenched teeth. He had forgotten how unnerving it was to maneuver in the ministry. It was cut throat and survival of the fittest here. "Give me a set of stairs and I'll walk, gladly." He exclaimed with a frown on his face.

"You just got to push on." Ron shrugged, used to having to deal with all the people every day.

"That isn't how things should need to be done." Harry snapped in irritation as a hefty women pushed passed him. He cursed Malfoy in his head that all he had to do to get to work every day was to walk down the stairs.

"You know all you got to say is your Harry Potter and you can just walk right on." Ron pointed out that he was suffering like the commoners pointlessly.

"I hate using my name for anything even as minor as that." Harry hissed at the suggestion. He liked that not many people realized who he was until his name came up. His glasses hid his green eyes and his hair covered his scar.

"Your choice mate," Ron commented then immediately dash forward as one of the doors opened. Just managing to squeeze into the lift taking up the last bit of space left. The red head turned to look at him and stuck his tong out just as the doors shut.

Harry sighed in irritation. 'Yep, they were all adults now.' As payback Hermione would be hearing about her boyfriend's childish behavior later.

He tapped his foot impatiently as he waited. Looking at his watch he sighed in dismay realizing that the seminar started in only ten minutes. Preparing himself, Harry decided he would try Ron's way. As soon as the next left arrived he used his weight to check other people out of the way.

Harry sighed in relief when he managed to one of the first people on. The feeling only lasted for a few seconds because all he other ministry workers tried to pile on after him. He ended up squashed against the wall with hardly any room to breath.

When the door finally shut they were all packed together like sardines. Harry was sure that his feet weren't even really touching the floor. He couldn't fall over if he wanted to.

Harry had to resist plugging his nose because it smelt like body odor in here. When a few people got off at a floor he let out a sigh of relief but more people got in to replace them. He swore that lifts were hell on earth.

When the third floor finally announced that featured the Auror division, Harry had to pry himself out from where he had been wedged between an overweight man and a blushing elder witch. Once he was out in the hall he felt like he could breathe again.

When Harry was dashing down the hall to where his class was going to be held, he heard his name called again. "Harry!" When he looked up he saw Hermione walking swiftly towards him. It seemed like all the people magically moved out of her way. She was wearing a skirt suit and her hair was pulled back into a respectable bun. "It's rare to see you at the ministry."

"I have a lecture today." Harry shrugged. Had really been that long since he had stepped into the ministry? Everyone he had run into seemed surprised to see him here.

"Miss Granger!" Kingsley Shacklebolt called from further down the hall. He had a look of confusion on his face as one of the Wizengot was talking at him. Kingsley had been voted into office as the Minister of Magic not long after the war ended because everyone thought he was trustworthy because he was in the Order of the Phoenix. Now that all the hype from the war had died down he was having a little trouble.

"Oh bother." Hermione sighed dramatically. "Well, it was nice seeing you, Harry. You should come to dinner sometime this week." She suggested looking intently at him.

"You better go take care of that." Harry pointed at the ex-auror who was being cornered by another other politician.

"Coming minister!" Hermione called and scampered back to her boss's side. She had taken over Percy's old job. Hermione's title officially was secretary to the Minister.

Hermione was more his advisor than his secretary. Kingsley asked her advice on everything he was unsure about and she gave it freely. The wizard population would never vote to put a 19 year old girl in office as the minister of magic; even if it was Hermione Granger, the smartest witch of their age.

Despite her credentials her young age was against her. She hadn't been able to get jobs that were high enough for her standards yet. She had readily accepted the job when Kingsley had offered it to her. This way she was at least making a huge difference in the wizarding world without anyone knowing the wiser.

Harry rushed into the marked room to find that the large majority of his peers had already arrived. He calmly walked to one of the free seats on the other side of the room. A dirty haired blonde walked in not far behind him. Just as Harry was pulling out his chair the instructor noticed his entrance.

"You're late Potter." Robards pointed out gruffly, tapping his watch face. Harry dropped into his seat with a deep sigh. It appeared that the head auror didn't like him at all on principle. The exchange auror had walked in right behind him and he hadn't received a reprimand for it. As the savior of the wizarding world though he was expected to be better than everyone else.

Hopefully, the lecture would be on something interesting to make this worth all the trouble. He lent his head on his hand and tapped impatiently for the class to start already. He could be doing something a lot more interesting with his time than this.

He wondered what Malfoy was up to.

o0o

Missy popped into the apartment at precisely 10:00 for the mid-morning break. She had a tray filled with a pot of tea and biscuits.

Draco had just decided to take his tea in the apartment. It was getting stuffy in the work room with all the fumes. He sighed in contentment as he took a sip of his hot refreshment. He took a chocolate digestive from the tray and leaned back in his favorite chair n front of the warm fire.

"I swear you live on tea and chocolate," George exclaimed as watched the blonde take his morning tea from the doorway. He pushed off the door frame and walked over to the purple couch. He reached for the extra tea cup on the tray and poured the hot liquid inside.

"Well, what else is there to live for?" Draco asked sarcastically, sipping contently.

Since they were alone and in a relaxed environment George figured he had put it off long enough. "My mother invited you to dinner." George finally had the courage to bring up.

Draco had to cover his mouth or spray his mouthful of tea in his bosses face. He quickly swallowed the hot tea burning his tong. "No." He gasped out, shaking his head.

"Come on, please," George begged, clasping his hands together and making puppy dog eyes.

"That is not a good situation. Malfoy's and Weasley's do not go together." Draco exclaimed with true belief behind the saying.

"I'm a Weasley and we get along just fine." George pointed out the flaw in that saying.

"You're an exception." Draco replied taking a sip of his tea to hide his look of discomfort. His boss was ruining his relaxing morning tea. Luckily he only had to deal with one person at his job- sometimes Potter too- usually they got along just fine but George was backing him into a corner here.

"It would make my mother so happy if you did this," George begged again hoping if he said it enough the blonde would do it. Knowing that if he didn't get Malfoy to do this his mother would never stop pestering him about it.

Draco stood up wanting to avoid the question. He scooped his puffkin off the pillow and placed him on his shoulder.

"You really should or she might pay the shop a surprise visit when you least expect it," George exclaimed, knowing how determined his mother was.

"I'll think about it," Malfoy exclaimed over his shoulder as he flounced out of the room.

George sighed as the Slytherin ran away from him. He had been in such a rush he had forgotten about his half drunk tea and eaten biscuits.

When George peeked into the workroom on his way back to his office he could see Malfoy talking to the puffkin as he worked. "I think it needs a little more wood wart too." The puffkin had taken to sitting on the blonde's should as he worked. Cooing and purring in agreement in his ear as he talked the things ear off.

George was glad to see that they had taken so well to each other.

.0.

It had taken a long time but Harry had finally managed to escape the ministry. It was a lot easier to get out than in. He thought it would be the opposite. Who actually wanted to spend their whole time in that building?

Only having a short time before his evening assignment Harry had decided to pop in and visit Malfoy. For some reason, he found the Slytherin's company refreshing. It was soothing to be around someone who treated him like an actual person that wasn't Ron or Hermione.

Harry was talking about what he had learned today about shield charms but Malfoy wasn't listening. It was like he was just making a noise of acknowledgment whenever he stopped talking. He might as well be talking to himself.

"Ah uh." Draco hummed as he measured out some sort of powder into a small beaker. His tong was sort of peaking or as he concentrated.

"I dance naked through the ministry atrium today," Harry said something random as a test that should have got a strong reaction. Malfoy just hummed in agree as he chopped some liver looking thing. "You aren't even listening." Harry accused the blonde.

Draco snapped his head to look up at Potter at the change in tone. When his brain processed what Potter had said he sighed. "No, I'm not. I'm working." He admitted, not caring if the brunet was offended by this.

"What…?" Harry started to say but the blond shushed him.

"Be quite for a minute. I need to concentrate." Draco snapped at the Gryffindor. "I really do not want to screw this up." It was written down that the potion was volatile and prone to an explosion, if not brewed properly. Checking Fred's notes to make sure he didn't put too much or too few of an ingredient. He turned back to his potion that he was close to finishing.

Harry could never stand being ignored by Malfoy. Something about not having those grey eyes paying attention to him riled something in him. From the moment they had met he had always been super aware of the blonde; when he didn't return the favor it irritated him. It was why he stalked him in school so much.

Harry peeked over Malfoy's shoulder as he worked. "What the hell is that supposed to be for?" Wrinkling his noise at the horrible smell the cauldron was emitting. It was bright green in colour.

"What do you think? It's a stink bomb obviously." Draco replied sarcastically. Working for a joke shop he had to brew many items like this.

Harry grimaced and pinched his nose. "It smells horrible." He exclaimed with a nasally voice.

"Oh good, that means I'm doing it right." Draco noticed Potter's look of confusion. "I dampened my sense of smell before I started, so I really can't tell that way."

"I'll just come back tomorrow then." Harry backed away from the putrid smelling cauldron. Pinching his nose dramatically as he left.

"Pussy," Draco called after Potter as he ran away.

On his way out of the workshop, Harry bumped directly into George who had been standing outside the door.

George had been listening in on their bickering. It seemed that every day that Harry would disturb Malfoy's work. He rolled his eyes as he had to reach out and steady Harry before he fell to the ground.

"Sorry." Harry apologized, the only thing stopping him from hitting the floor was the red heads arms. He had been in such a rush to escape the fumes he hadn't been paying attention where he had been going.

Deciding this was a great opportunity to test something out George took a product out of his coat breast pocket and slipped it into the back of the brunet's jeans while pretending to help him to his feet. "Shouldn't you get going?" George asked when he just stood there.

The midnight haired boy looked down at his watch and dashed out of the shop. Harry swore as he ran to where he was supposed to meet his auror in training. He didn't want to get a reputation of being late to everything.

George continued walking back to his office with a satisfied smirk on his face.

.0.

During his afternoon assignment, Harry had been sent on a case that was supposed to be a simple noise complaint that turned into a full out wand duel. On cases like this, you had to fill in paper work about everything that happened.

Harry was in the office at the ministry he shared with all the other second year trainees.

Paper work had to be the dullest part of being an Auror. It might have been ok if you could just write out what actually happened but there was a format in place you had to follow. The way the paper work was set up out could only fill in the facts without any embellishment. It was the driest written word he had ever come across.

After grabbing a form, Harry heavily sat down on one of the desk chairs and there was a loud popping noise.

...

"Very funny." Harry stormed into the work room in a rage.

"What is that smell?" Draco gagged out. Dropping what he had been doing to plug his nose. "It's pungent"

"You should know, you're the one who made it?" Harry snapped in allegation. Still stinking to high heaven. "I can't believe you set one of those stink bombs off up in my office."

"You think I snuck into the ministry to perform a prank?" Malfoy raised a condescending eyebrow at the accusation. "Potter I never leave here. What makes you think I'm the culprit? It is a product that is sold in the store publicly. Just because I was brewing a batch this morning doesn't mean it was me." He hissed with agitation in his tone.

Harry deflated when he realized the first culprit that had come to mind had been Malfoy. It was the same thing that happened in school all the time too. "Sorry I automatically accused you." Harry apologized sincerely.

George pushed the curtain aside. "I thought I saw you Harry." He started laugh his ass off when he caught a whiff of him. "Oh my god it worked." He started to gasp for breath because it was hard to breathe while laughing and plugging his nose at the same time.

"George!" Harry yelled trying to tackle the red head. They wrestled for a couple minutes.

"Watch the potion." Draco tried to keep the tussle away from the lit cauldron. He'd been working on the batch off Skiving Snack Boxes all afternoon. The things practically flew off the shelf. If they ruined it he'd be pissed.

"I can't believe you placed one of your products on my seat at the ministry." Harry accused the red head out of breath.

"No, I slipped it in your back pocket as you left," George explained how he did it. "It turned out better than I could ever imagine."

"It set off in the middle of the Auror Department." Harry snapped with clenched fists. "They had to evacuate the whole floor." He exclaimed to show how effective the product was.

"How was I to know you wouldn't sit down until you got to the ministry?" George asked with true amusement in his tone. Wiping tears of mirth from his eyes. "It could have happened anywhere."

"What made you decide to do it in the first place?" Harry asked with a hiss that bordered on parselmouth. He had been on the wrong end of the Weasley twin's pranks before but this time he felt it had gone too far.

"You were bugging my employee." George shrugged, not really having that good a reason. Sometimes he did impulsive thing with little to no reason. "I wanted to test a new way to set off the stink bomb and you just happened to bump into me presenting an opportunity. It seemed like a good idea at the time."

"I didn't put him up to it." Draco denied he had anything to do with it when Potter glanced at him. "I'm just the unsuspecting catalyst."

"Have to get my kicks somehow," George smirked in amusement.

"How are you supposed to get rid of the smell? Is it like being sprayed by a skunk? Do I need to bath myself in tomato juice?" Harry asked anxiously.

Draco walked over to the cupboard to retrieve what he had brewed earlier that negated the effects of the potion. It was in a powdered form so that it would keep longer. "You need to spread this into a hot bath and soak in it for at least one hour." Handing the small packet over to the Gryffindor.

"Thanks." Harry's hand brushed with Malfoy's as he took the item. "I'm sorry I accused you."

"Whatever," Malfoy replied flippantly turning his back to him.

Harry could hear the wounded tone underneath though. Just as they were starting to get along he fell back into old habits. Harry knew he'd made a big mistake. Just when he was going to apologize again Malfoy addressed him.

"You should go. You're stinking up the place." Draco exclaimed with a snide tone.

Harry knew there was no point trying to get through the blonde when he was in one of these moods. He had his emotionless mask up to protect himself. He would just have to return tomorrow and try again.

"I'll have some sent over to the ministry, shall I." George exclaimed with a smirk.

Harry sent a glare back at the red head as he left. A hot bath was calling his name.

.0.

Once he'd gotten back to Grimmauld place, Harry asked Kreacher run him a bath. The house elf popped out of existence after nodding at the command. By the time Harry had climbed to the top of the stairs and reached the bath room the claw foot tub was already filled with steaming hot water.

He closed the door behind him and walked over to the tub to check the temperature. Finding it an agreeable he reached into his pocket to retrieve the packet that Malfoy had given him. He ripped it open and spread it over the water. The purple powder dissolved turning the water a smoky colour.

Taking off his glasses he placed them on the counter. Undoing all the clasped Harry stripped off his putrid robes. He would have to get them dry cleaned most likely. He tugged his shirt off throwing on top of the pile.

When he pulled his jeans off, he discovered that the majority of the smell was coming from the clothing item. Harry decided that they were garbage now, knowing it would be impossible to completely get rid of the smell. He better burn them just to be safe.

Once he was completely nude Harry gave a sniff of his arm to see how bad the damage was. He hoped that his clothes took the brunt of the prank. He smelt like he hadn't bathed in weeks even though he knew it had just been since this morning.

Climbing over the rim of the porcelain tub, Harry sunk into the hot water. He rally hoped that this stuff worked. Dunking his head underneath the surface he immersed himself in the water. He gasped for breath when he broke the surface again.

He soaked deep in thought with just his head above the water level.

As soon as Harry realized what had happened, he had immediately jumped to the conclusion that Malfoy was behind it. It was an ingrained response that had been happening ever since Hogwarts. If anything bad happened that the blonde prince of Slytherin must have some hand in it.

In second year when the chamber of Secrets had been opened his first thought had been 'The heir of Slytherin must be Malfoy.' It slipped his mind that if there was even the slightest chance that Malfoy was related to one of the founders of Hogwarts he would be bragging up a storm. He had always had a big mouth. They had even gone as far to convince Hermione to brew the polyjuice potion to catch him in the act.

It never actually was though, except for sixth year but that was a whole other kettle of fish. As soon as Malfoy had something better to do than insult him and compete against him in Quidditch; it had rankled him. He found himself following the blonde Slytherin around at all times of the day. Hermione always said that he was obsessed with Malfoy.

It was proof that the blonde was never far from his mind that he was always the first thing to pop into his mind. He wondered why that was?

Harry soaked deep in thought until his fingertips were wrinkled. It wasn't until the water had grown bone chilling cold did he climb out.

o0o

Harry had a busy morning so he hadn't able to stop by the shop that morning. There was also supposed to do something that afternoon and probably in the evening. Knowing he shouldn't eave this misunderstanding hanging between them he had to use his only free time that day to make it happen.

Rushing over towards Weasley Wizard Wheezes on his lunch period. Harry stormed into the workroom and found Malfoy exactly where he thought he would be; slaving over some potion or other. Realizing the blonde hadn't realized he entered yet, Harry psyched himself up.

Deciding to get the apology out of the way, he bit the bullet. "I'm really sorry that I jumped to conclusions." Harry knew he had insulted the Slytherin and he did not easily forgive.

Draco jumped at the sudden voice that broke the silence. He snapped his head up and then scowled when he realized who it was. "Oh it's you." He sighed as he observed Potter's form that was wearing muggle clothes. The outfit kind of threw him off. "Where are your auror robes?" It was actually weird to see Potter out of his training robes. Draco had gotten use to the grey trench coat on the brunet. It was weird to see him in everyday clothes.

"They're at the dry cleaners." Harry replied with a deep sigh. He couldn't bring himself to put on the robe that morning, no matter how much it was a uniform requirement. He had some explaining to do to his training auror that morning though.

Draco sniffed at the air trying to discover where the strange scent was coming from. "Are you wearing, cologne?" He never pegged the Gryffindor for the kind who cared how other people thought he smelt. Draco actually enjoyed Potter's natural scent that smelt clean and manly.

"Maybe." Harry replied uncomfortably shifting his feet on the spot. "I'm just wearing it to mask any lingering odors." After getting dressed that morning he was unsure if the stench was completely gone. At the last minute he threw on some old cologne he had found in the bathroom. He suspected it had been Sirius's because he had always smelt good.

"If you used the remedy you should be fine." Draco rolled his eyes at the dramatization of the situation. It was a small kiddy prank that first years used. It wasn't the end of the world.

"I think it sunk into my pores," Harry exclaimed over the top, holding up his bare arm. Harry had to take another bath in the morning before the smell was completely gone.

"It is all in your mind." Draco tried to get into the brunets head.

Realizing that he was actually having a conversation with Potter, he turned back to his work. Draco was determined to stay angry with Potter at least for a little while. The best way to show he hadn't forgiven the Gryffindor yet was to give him the silent treatment.

"Will you forgive me?" "Harry asked and received no response. Malfoy had his back to him and was working on something. "Well, are you going to answer me?" The blonde was clearly pretended he didn't hear him.

'The reason that Potter always seeked his company out was because he liked the conversation they had. As a punishment, he would take them away.' Draco thought to himself as he tried to resist responding.

"Fine be that way," Harry exclaimed standing up in agitation. "I'll be back tomorrow. Then maybe you'll be more grown up.

.

The next day when Potter showed up again in his normal robes, Draco couldn't resist pointing something out that he had just noticed."You do realize your robes are a foot or so too short right?" Draco commented blandly. He was very familiar with aurors and the trench coats usually reached the floor.

"It's how they're made." Harry looked down at his outfit self-consciously. That morning he had to run to pick it up from the dry cleaners. He agreed the training robes made him feel like a teenager who had just gone through a growth spurt. "It's so the public doesn't mistake us for fully trained Aurors." He explained the reasoning behind the length.

"Right." Draco drawled condescendingly. Turning back to his work he focused all of his attention on brewing. He decided he wouldn't give Potter any attention that day. It always seemed like it took him a couple minutes to remember this plan.

"I know I wrongly accused you. It was a tiny slip up but you're acting like it was a huge insult." Harry started to rant nervously. "Can we just go back to the way it was before?" Malfoy didn't respond to his statement at all.

"Are you listening?" Harry walked over to stand beside the blonde. "Malfoy?" The Slytherin turned and walked to the shelf to grab some ingredients.

Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion. He had noticed every time he came into the blonde's field of view he would turn the other way. He quickly dash in front of the blonde, he got a slight reaction of surprise in the grey eyes before they reverted to their emotionless voids. Malfoy started to read the recipe.

"Are you going to properly look at me?" Harry snapped, he grabbed Malfoy by the shoulders to pin him against the cupboard. He tried to force the Slytherin to look him in the eye. The grey eyes avoided looking at him as if at all costs.

George was entering the work room when he noticed their position "Harry, what are you doing?!" He cried in surprise rushing over. "Release Draco this instant." He knew that they didn't always get along and they bickered a lot but George thought that they were over the physical fights of their past.

Harry released his hold on Malfoy who calmly went back to working as if nothing happened. He knew it must have looked like he was inches away from beating the Slytherin to a pulp. "Malfoy is refusing to talk or even acknowledge me. Over that stupid accusation." He snapped stomping away from the blonde to put some distance between them.

George raised an eyebrow at this. The fact that Draco was pretending that Harry didn't exist was bothering the brunet so much was an interesting observation. If Harry didn't care about Malfoy's opinion it wouldn't matter so much to him. "Draco can you just hear Harry out?" George sighed about having to be in the middle of these two. "He was trying to talk to you.

"I don't hear anything George," Draco exclaimed dramatically, pretending he didn't know what his boss was talking about.

Harry frowned and stomped out. Malfoy was just holding a childish grudge against him. He shook his head when he realized he was talking about the boy who held a grudge all through school because he wouldn't shake his hand in first year. He was getting nowhere.

"You know Harry's really sorry right?" George inquired, wondering how the blonde could ignore Harry's groveling at his feet. He felt this dance between the two had gone on long enough.

"Oh, I know," Malfoy replied with a devious smirk. Reverting back to his normal attitude. "I'm just making him pay for his mistake."

"So you're making him suffer," George exclaimed with understanding. Slytherin's were truly devious. "How long are you going to keep that up for?"

"Until I feel like he has paid his dues." Draco shrugged not really knowing himself.

.0.

Harry did what he always did when he didn't know how to solve a problem; he asked Hermione.

He floo-ed into the burrow straight after his long day of auror training. When Harry stepped out of the fireplace he found both his friends on the couch reading.

"I didn't know you were coming." Ron looked up from his text book, surprised at his best friend's entrance. "Harry mate. Glade to see you." He threw the book away glad for an excuse to stop studying. They had a text on different types of shield charms the next day so Hermione was forcing him to study so he would get perfect.

"You know that I invited you to dinner days ago." Hermione exclaimed flatly crossing her arms and sitting back on the couch. She had expected to receive an owl informing them Harry would be coming but he just showed up well after dinner was over.

"Sorry I completely forgot." Harry apologized since it had been pushed from his mind. "Something happened, I need your help."

"What is it?" Hermione asked, looking up intently. As long as he had a good reason she would forgive him.

"George tested out one of his pranks on me. It sort of went off at the ministry…" Harry started to explain with a deep sigh. It had been totally humiliating since it was where he would end up working someday.

"That was you?" Ron gaped, trying to hide his amusement. The auror department had actually been closed down for a short amount of time for cleaning. He had heard through the grapevine it had been a prank gone wrong. It hadn't smelt right when he went in that morning.

"Yes and I pointed the finger at Malfoy and now he isn't talking to me." Harry slumped into the couch. It seemed like the only acknowledgement he received were insults. "What should I do?" He begged her to tell him the solution to his problem.

"You're talking about Malfoy like he was a bird you were dating mate." Ron pointed out.

Harry blushed deeply at the insinuation.

"Maybe you should treat it that way," Hermione exclaimed calmly. The two males looked at her like she was crazy. She sighed and sat forward to explain it more clearly. "What do you do when you have pissed a girl off?"

"Buy her flowers, chocolate, that shit?" Ron exclaimed with some confusion still in his tone at what she was getting at.

"Exactly. You buy them a gift to show how sorry you are." Hermione smiled when it hit them. "Along with a proper apology of course."

.0.

Draco was making a list of potion ingredients that needed to be restocked when something was placed in front of him. "Chocolate?" He looked up to see Potter with an unsure smile on his face. "Why?"

"Since you like chocolate so much, I thought I'd buy you some as a peace offering," Harry explained his reasoning behind the sudden gift. The blonde narrowed his eyes and poked the box with distrust. "They aren't poisoned!" Harry snapped defensively.

"I doubt you have the balls to off me," Draco replied scoffing mockingly. Opening the box suspiciously to see a selection of high-quality chocolates. "I'll keep a bezoar on hand just in case." Selecting a wedge shaped one he popped it into his mouth. When the taste combination of orange and chocolate melted his mouth he groaned in pleasure. "You're forgiven."

If Harry knew all he had to do to make Draco Malfoy act like a decent person was supply him with chocolate, he would have sent an owl delivery every day at Hogwarts.

o0o

Harry smiled when he saw the grey knit cap making its way through the crowd. It was getting closer to Christmas so the Alley was more busy than usual. He was glad they had finally made up.

He frowned when he noticed a small group of men pointing at Malfoy with suspicious eyes. One of them took out a wand. Harry stalked up behind them and grabbed the leader of the group's wrists before he could even finishing casting. "Don't even think about it." Harry warned. They ran away when they realized who he was.

Harry put a hand on the blonde's shoulder. Malfoy whipped around and sighed in relief when he realized who it was. "Oh, it's you."

"What's all this?" Harry asked, gesturing to the overflowing shopping bags. He doubted the blonde was Christmas shopping.

"Potion ingredients." Draco forced a bag into Potter's arms. Then he carried on walking back towards the shop. "Thanks for the hat. It's working great."

"You're welcome." Harry didn't want to tell him about the close call Malfoy just had. Maybe it wasn't just his platinum hair that gave him away but the way that he carried himself. As the Slytherin walked he seemed to almost glide and held himself with confidence.

He was following Malfoy down the street when he heard a shriek. A blonde girl ran up to him. "Can I have your autograph?" She thrust a picture of him suddenly in his face. Malfoy hovered to the side and looked at his feet. Harry quickly signed the picture just to get rid of the girl. Once the fan had streaked off to show her friends he turned to the Slytherin. "Sorry about that."

"Well I, guess you have a job as a celebrity to the public" Draco snapped and started to stomp back to the sounded close to something the Slytherin would have said back in school.

There was an awkward silence as they made their way back.

...

The bell jingled as they re-entered Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

Verity popped into the room. "Oh, it's just you. I thought you were a customer."

"Sorry to disappoint you." Draco rolled his eyes as he stripped off his coat and scarf. When Malfoy removed the hat his hair was a little stat-icky and he tried to flatten it out.

"It's just so boring this time of day," Verity complained leaning on the register showing her cleavage. No one came in till school was let out this time of year.

"I have work to do. Why don't you go bug George or something?" Draco suggested.

"Good idea." Verity smiled and walked over to her boss's office, without knocking she entered. "Are playing that bloody game again?" She slammed the door behind her.

"They should just fuck and get it over with." Draco scoffed and started to ascend the stairs.

"What do you mean?" Harry asked, following behind him. "I saw her flirting with Charlie at the grand re-opening party."

"Oh please, Verity flirts with Charlie to make George jealous, which works, except she doesn't realize it." Draco rolled his eyes at their silly behavior. "It's obvious that they like each other."

"What are you going to do, lock them in a closet together?" Harry asked sarcastically as he placed the bag on the work table.

"Whatever works to stop them dancing around each other," Draco exclaimed as he started to unpack his bag. He pulled ingredients out and lined them up on the table. With Christmas coming up they had to keep up with demand.

Harry decided to follow the blonde's example. "What the hell is this?" He held up a jar of pink goop he came across while unpacking the bag Malfoy had given him.

"It's stink sap." Draco plucked the jar from his hands and placed it on the shelf with the other wet ingredients. "We use it to make the jelly for the candy."

"That's disgusting." Harry wrinkled his nose in disgust. He knew it was an animal by-product.

"They've used it for centuries in all the shops." Draco shrugged off his revulsion.

"I never want to eat another Every Flavored Bean again," Harry exclaimed with a turning stomach. He always knew that jelly candy wasn't good for him but he had never questioned before what it was made of.

"Just don't think about it." Draco suggested seriously. Knowing how candy was actually made was what made him so into chocolate. He had a sweet tooth but he wasn't willing to eat something made of beetles to sooth it. Chocolate was safe and had only three main ingredients that didn't make him want to heave hearing where they came from.

"You know that George is trying to convince me to have dinner with his mother?" Draco exclaimed as he stuffed ingredients into the right drawers. It had been on his mind a lot lately.

"Of course I do, I was there when Molly sent out the invitation," Harry replied as he sniffed one the ingredients and scrunched his face at the smell. He pushed the root away from him.

"So George wasn't lying about that. Mrs, Weasley really wants to meet me?" Draco asked with a sigh.

"Yes." Harry nodded. "Why would he lie about something like that?"

"I guess I'll do it." Draco sighed in defeat. He knew that George would never stop asking till he agreed.

"Great." Harry smiled brightly as he walked towards the entrance. "Hey George, Malfoy finally agreed to dinner at the burrow." He yelled over the landing.

"Oh thank god." George cried with relief from inside his office. Every time he had seen his mother lately she inquired about the dinner. He looked forward to finally informing his mother that they had the green light.

… **TBC**

 


	6. Christmas Spirit

**o0o**

Draco paced back and forth in front of the fire place. "I can't believe I'm doing this."

 "Come on it isn't that bad." George rolled his eyes from his seat. After he had informed his mother of the consent of his new employee to dinner, George had to listen to his mum squeal in excitement for five minutes straight. She loved excuses to cook for large groups.

 "It's going to be a disaster." Draco snapped dramatically.

"It's just dinner with my parents." George said flatly. Lemondrop purred as he petted him. "That's right, your mother has gone crazy." Malfoy glared at him for referring to him as a female.

"Your parents hate me," Draco exclaimed over dramatically.

"That's the whole point of this dinner. They don't actually know you." George sighed trying to get the point across. "We need to show them what a bright young man you are."

No matter how much the Slytherin claimed that he didn't care about a bout their opinion George could see it wasn't true. Malfoy had broken out his best clothes and was a complete wreck.

George sighed and stood up. "We have to go, we're already late." Grabbing the blonde by his arm before he attempted an escape. He threw power at their feet saying the Burrow clearly.

…

When they arrived on the other side George pushed Malfoy forward.

Draco brushed the soot off his robes. When he looked up he was met by the smiling face of the female head of the Weasley family. He wondered how long she had been standing there.

"It's so nice to meet you." Mrs. Weasley smiled in welcome. Clasping her hands with a bright smile on her face. Her husband stood behind her with a tight look on his face. It wasn't surprising considering the strained relationship with his father.

"Thank you for inviting me to dinner." Draco nodded returning the greeting. His mother had taught him perfect manners.

"I must get back to the kitchen now. George will show you around." Mrs. Weasley excused herself, she scurried back towards the kitchen. Mr. Weasley followed her without saying a word. It would appear that it would be much harder to get the male head of the family to accept him.

Looking around curiously at his environment. It looked completely different than places Draco was used to. There was a lot of clutter and knickknacks filling every space. The furniture looked well used aand rundown. It was warm and homey though unlike the cold museum atmosphere of the manor. He was sure there wasn't a room I the house that wasn't used to its fullest.

Draco noticed that they had already put up their Christmas tree. It looked like they had gone out to the woods and chopped it down themselves. It had horrible handmade ornaments that looked like children who had no artistic talent made them. It was totally different from the overpriced trees they used to get at the manor. The house elves used to meticulously decorate them in tasteful crystal ornaments.

When Draco walked further into the home he noticed that Weasley was leaning against the wall smirking at him. "Do you have to be here?" He asked with annoyance.

"Mate, I live here." Ron said with clear amusement in his tone. "Besides I wouldn't miss this for the world."

Hermione sighed at her boyfriend's vindictiveness. "I'm glad you finally accepted Mrs. Weasley's invitation." She greeted the guest properly.

"I held out for over a week. " Draco sighed at how he gave out under peer pressure.

"Come one. Stop jabbering. I'm sure that the food is already on the table." George started to herd everyone towards the dining room.

When Draco was led around the corner he was met un-expectantly with a table full of Weasley's already seated. "I thought it was just supposed to be you parents?" Draco hissed under his breath in George's ear.

"I lied." George replied with not a hint of quilt in his tone. He put an arm around the reluctant Slytherin's shoulders to lead him forward. "Everyone this is my new employee. Draco Malfoy, if you don't already know him by reputation." He introduced him to the table.

Draco looked around at the family, thrown off by the sheer number of them. There was just so many of them. He was just lucky they hadn't started to pop out grandchildren yet. When Potter arrived interrupting his introduction, Draco wanted to sigh with relief. He didn't know when the brunets company had become a relief instead of a hindrance.

"Sorry, I'm late Mrs. Weasley. The case we were on went a little long." Harry leaned down and kissed the women's rosy cheek who had just come out of the kitchen.

"Oh, it's alright. George and Mr. Malfoy just got here also. You didn't miss anything." Mrs, Weasley easily brushed off his apology.

When Harry reached the blonde's side he couldn't help leaning over and whispering "Is that because someone was freaking out?"

"Shut up." Draco hissed under his breath. He didn't know why he was glad to see Potter anymore.

"Mrs. Weasley sure went all out and invited everybody." Harry commented as he looked over the completely full table. It didn't look like anyone was missing. Even Ginny had brought her boyfriend.

"Mother never misses a chance for a family gathering," George stated.

When Draco was seated he was sandwiched between Potter and George. At least he was seated with people he knew. There were people he recognized and others he had never seen in his life. Across from him was Weasley- Ron to clarify- who was smirking at him. Draco had to resist childishly sticking his tong out.

Everyone was filling their plates. Different dishes were being passed around the table. Draco had never experienced an environment like this before. Even when his parents had dinner parties everyone was served their individual plates. Draco served himself a small portion of food when it came around to him.

Mrs. Weasley returned with even more food. There were a lot of mouths to feed so it wasn't surprising. Draco wondered how one women could cook for a dozen people when it usually took a couple house elves to accomplish that.

The whooshing sound of someone floo-ing in filled the room. The green flames flashed highlighting the room in an eerie light. Draco turned in his chair to see what other Weasley would be joining them. He could just see the fireplace from his seat. When he was met by the site of a women who looked scarily like his aunt Bellatrix with a baby in her arms.

"Sorry I'm late." Andromeda apologized as she brushed soot off of her robe. "This one did not want to wake up from his nap." She bounced the toddler in her arms who giggled at the action. Strangely it's hair was bright blue.

"I didn't think you were coming." Molly exclaimed. Feeling like a terrible host for not waiting to serve her dinner until everyone guest was present.

"Teddy." Harry cried pushing is chair back and standing up. Rushing over he held his arms out to receive the toddler. Andromeda released the child without a fight. "Did you miss your godfather?" Harry asked rocking the child. The child's response was to blow a spit bubble.

"I actually wanted to have this dinner to meet my son's new employee, Draco Malfoy." As soon as Molly said the name Andromeda snapped her head up and looked at the table. Catching sight of the platinum blonde. She approached the table curiously. "I'm Andromeda Tonks." She introduced herself. "My maiden name is Black."

"So you're my…" Draco was totally unprepared to meet a distant family member at the Weasley's house. He knew his mother had a sister named Andromeda that had been stripped from the family for marrying a muggle. He didn't expect everyone with that name would be her.

"Aunt, yes." Andromeda continued the sentence there was a sudden tension in the air.

"Sit down sit down." Molly broke the stare down. Everyone shifted around to make room at the table. The older women ended up near the far end. Andromeda couldn't help but stare at her nephew from down the table. The boy defiantly had Lucius's colouring but his slender figure and features were all Narcissa.

Potter sat back down beside the blonde with the toddler in his lap.

"She's staring at me," Draco exclaimed as he played with the remnants of his meal.

Harry looked up to see who Malfoy was talking about. "Andromeda is just shocked to be reunited with a blood relative. She had as little warning as you did." He bounced Teddy on his lap as he finished his meal. Malfoy sat stiffly beside him.

**…**

They moved to the living room for tea and biscuits. Mrs. Weasley brought out a tray filled with ginger bread and sugar cookies. The quests spread out about the room.

Draco looked at the tree that was the current focal point of the living room. "Isn't it a little early?" he inquired. It was only the first of the month. There were 24 days to go.

"Mother is always excited about Christmas." George shrugged off the issue. "This is nothing though. You should see the outdoor tree." He pointed out the window.

An outdoor tree?" Draco stared blankly at his boss. He had never heard of any such practice except for at a market for the public. Looking outside he could see they were in the country. There wasn't a house to be seen in the distance. In the middle of the yard there was a giant ever green tree that was decked out in holiday decoration.

Draco sat down on a chair close to the window. Mrs. Weasley walked over and handed him a box wrapped in green paper. "Oh, you didn't have to get me anything." Draco exclaimed surprised.

"Oh, I made it," Molly exclaimed brightly. Her husband flushed with an exasperated expression.

Draco's eyes narrowed his eyes in confusion. Slipping his finger under the tape he unwrapped the box. Picking up the item he held it up in front of him and it unfolded. "It's a jumper?" Draco blinked in surprise. Now understanding what Mrs. Weasley meant, the women must have knit it herself.

Ron started to laugh his ass off.

"Oh my god she didn't." Ginny said in mortification. He thought his mother would at least be able to hold off until Christmas. If the jumper had already been gifted what would she send on the big day.

"I figured if you were going to be working with my son, I should initiate you into the family." Mrs. Weasley explained the reason behind the gift. "It's a family tradition."

Draco was still so shocked, he didn't know what to say. He didn't want to be rude after she invited him into her home. "I'm speechless."

"Put it on."

"Aww." Draco exclaimed in reluctance. A dozen eyes stared him down. With a fake smile he tugged the jumper over his head. His hair became static from the wool brushing against it. Quickly running his finger through the strands to fix it.

"It fits wonderfully." Mrs. Weasley exclaimed with glee. "I was worried it would be too small, but you just looked so skinny in the Prophet."

"It fits fine." Draco shifted uncomfortably in his new jumper. It was a deep forest green with a grey **D** on the front. The wool was a lot softer against his skin than he thought it would be. It reminded him of the cap Potter had given him. It just clicked where it had originally came from.

George noticed the blonde looking down at the jumper with a furrowed brow. "Verity has one too." He shrugged at his mother's eccentrics. "It's bright yellow with a purple V. I think you got off easy."

"I knew you would most likely get one eventually but I was holding out for Christmas." George contemplated out loud. "I did not expect mum to side swipe you at the first dinner."

Harry smiled to himself at the situation. He could feel someone hovering near him. When he looked over his shoulder he saw Dean standing there. "Can I talk to you for a minute?" His old classmate asked nervously. Harry nodded and they walked into the hall.

"Harry you know…" Dean started awkwardly. "You think I would be able to interact properly with someone I shared a dorm room with for six years." He sighed.

Harry knew what this was all about. "It is fine, I decided not to get back together with Ginny. I'm not going to fault you." He reassured one of his oldest friends that he wasn't mad at him. He found that since he had broken up with Ginny she seldom ever crossed his mind. It was good that he let her go before everyone expected them to get married.

"That's good to hear." Dean sighed with relief. "I better get back to her before she starts wondering where I am." He exclaimed, shooting a smile over his shoulder as he walked back into the room.

When Harry re-entered the room he frowned when he saw Charlie talking to Malfoy. George had told him how he was bisexual and Malfoy wasn't hard on the eyes.

He seriously hoped that he wasn't trying to use the Slytherin's name sake to pick him up. Using the "I'm a dragon tamer you know?" line to try and pick up the blonde. It rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. He stalked over and made an excuse to break up their conversation.

"Charlie, I'm surprised to see you are still here," Harry exclaimed with a tight smile. "I thought you were just here for a short visit." He had seen the dragon tamer at the reopening of Weasley Wizard Wheezes. It was strange to see him so soon since he was usually out of the country.

"Well, it was originally." Charlie shrugged. "Hagrid asked me if I would take over as the Care of Magical Creatures position." 

"Hagrid's retiring?" Harry exclaimed with true surprise in his tone. Hogwarts was his life. He couldn't imagine the school without the half-giant.

"No, no. Hagrid is just taking some time off work to go on a trip with Madame Maxime. I'm subbing for him." Charlie explained further to clarified. He could see the relief flash across Harry's face.

"I hope you're a better teacher," Draco exclaimed resentfully.

"Hagrid isn't that bad of a teacher. He just gets over excited by creatures." Harry reprimanded the Slytherin on his harsh opinion.

"Tell that to my arm." Draco exclaimed, pulling up the sleeve of his Weasley jumper. Harry was shocked to see that there was actually a scar left from where Buckbeak had scratched him.

"Is this a bad time to reveal that I actually own that very same Griffin." Harry had been left Buckbeak in Sirius's will when he died. He had placed the griffin in a stable where someone would take care of him.

"Of course you do," Draco stated blandly. "As long as you keep that beast away from me we'll do fine."

"I better be going, they'll be closing the gate at Hogwarts soon," Charlie exclaimed after he looked at his watch. "Nice talking to you Dragon." He said farewell to the blonde.

"Aw, don't call me that." Draco cried with distaste. "I feel like I'm a child again and my mother is calling me her Little Dragon."

"That's adorable." Harry smiled at the nick name. He could just imagine Narcissa Malfoy cooing to a toddler Draco as he clutched at her skirts. "Little Dragon."

"Shut up Potter." Draco berated himself for letting it slip in front of the brunet. Now he would never hear the end of it. It would haunt him for months, maybe even years to come.

.o.

The evening started to wind down. One by one the Weasley children had started to trickle out. Soon it was only a few patrons talking at the table over drinks.

"It wasn't that bad was it?" Harry teased the Slytherin as they walked into the living room together. He had acquired possession of Teddy from Andromeda who was talking with Mrs. Weasley.

"I guess not." Draco shrugged as he sat on the doily covered couch. It appeared now that the large majority of her children had left the nest, Mrs. Weasley had become avid at crocheting as well as knitting.

Teddy started to squirm and whine. "What's wrong? You hungry?" Harry asked rocking the baby. He knew his bottles in the kitchen. He would need both hands to prepare it. "Hold him for a second." Harry forced the toddler on the blonde.

"Potter- wait!" Draco called, he sighed as the brunette disappeared into the kitchen. Turning his attention to the child. "So you're my cousin?" In response, the child blew spit bubbles. "Charming."

Harry stood at the door way to the kitchen after retrieving the bottle. Watching Malfoy sitting in the middle of the Burrow with one of Mrs. Weasley's jumpers and holding Teddy if felt surreal but right somehow.

Draco gasped when his cousin's bright blue hair changed to match his own. Looking into the familiar shade of grey eyes it hurt. It hit him so hard that this child was family. One of the last blood relations he had left alive or out of prison.

"Malfoy," Harry called, a little worried he walked over. "Draco?" The blonde looked a little petrified. Deciding he better grab Teddy before Malfoy unconsciously loosened his grip. He maneuvered the toddler into his arms.

The grey eyes finally blinked and the Slytherin looked up. "Oh sorry. Just wasn't expecting that."

"It's alright. My fault anyway." Harry exclaimed as he got a better grip on Teddy. "I guess I should have warned you about Teddy's metamorphous powers, huh."

"That would be good in the future with strangers." Draco raised a condescending eyebrow as he sat back into the couch cushions.

Harry sat down beside the blonde and started to feed Teddy the bottle. He sucked on the nipple until it was completely empty. Once Teddy was fed he drifted off to sleep.

It wasn't long until Andromeda came along to collect the infant. She collected the sleeping toddler in her arms. Turning she addressed her nephew. "We should have tea sometime. There aren't very many Blacks left. I would like to hear about my sister also."

"Drop by the shop sometime," Draco replied back kindly. He didn't feel comfortable enough to go to his aunt's house.

"Right. I almost forgot you're working there now. I'll send an owl when I'm coming." Andromeda nodded in understanding. "I must go now. This one is way passed his bed time." She turned and walked towards the fireplace. The floo flashed green and they were gone.

It was late in the evening by the time they actually left.

o0o

A blonde owl arrived at the apartment that belonged to Draco's mother the next night.

In earlier letters Draco had been informed about what she was doing. She had made her way to the south of France where she had been able to procure a small apartment over a shop where she worked selling clothes. It only had a small salary besides the rooming. In his last letter Draco had asked if she could come for a visit.

Draco read through his mother's letter. He sighed in disappointment when he finished reading her words of regret. It would cost too much to make the trip. She had also picked up some extra shifts for the holidays.

'There was nothing to look forward to this year.' Draco thought with a sigh. His father was in prison for the foreseeable future. His mother was in France and unable to return for the holiday because she couldn't afford the trip to come see him. This would be the first Christmas ever that he wouldn't see his mother.

Draco decided he would bury himself in work so that he wouldn't have to think about it.

.

The shop was crazy now that it was so close to Christmas. Things were practically flying off the shelves.

"I hate you, George." Lee Jordon exclaimed as he struggled under heavy boxes. "This is an abuse of roommate labor."

"Love you too." George called back as he continued walking. It had grown so busy at the shop that George had resulted to bribing his friends to help out. Hopefully they would make it through the holidays without a hitch. He tried to do as much as he could to make everything run smoothly.

He approached the cash register area. "How's it going?"

"Busy," Verity replied tiredly. "I take back what I said about hating when the shop is empty. I want my vacant shop back." Verity complained as she rung up another customer. It seemed like the line was never ending. "I want a break."

"I'll take over." Hermione volunteered since she overheard the conversation.

"Thank you." Verity cried with relief. She immediately dashed away from the till.

"Don't let her take too long a break." George told her and Hermione waved his worry off as she started to serve customers. Turning around, George looked to see what he could do next. When he spotted Harry making his way through the crowd he beelined towards him. "Good you're here now. You can help then." He handed a maroon apron to the brunet that he had grabbed.

Harry blinked as he was suddenly bombarded with the request. "I just got back from training, though." He whined tiredly as he pushed the apron back at the red head. Harry had come to the shop on the way home expecting to be able to relax after a long day.

"You come to my shop every day, it's the least you could do." George exclaimed with narrowed eyes. He could still see the brunet's reluctance. "If you don't help out you are banned from coming here." The apron was snatched from his hands. George smirked as he turned and walked away.

"You shouldn't even bother arguing," Ron informed him as he walked past with a box in his arms to restock some of the shelves. "I had no choice but to come and help myself."

"Does he have everyone available working?" Harry asked as tied the apron around his waist.

"Pretty much. George hired a few seasonal workers but he only has enough money in the budget for two of them. It wasn't enough so he's forcing family and friends to pick up the slack." Ron nodded as he opened the box and started to fill the empty shelf space.

"Mommy, it is Harry Potter." A little girl pulled on her mother's skirt and pointed at him. A large quantity of the shop turned to stare in their direction.

George turned and made his way back towards them when he heard the little girl's announcement. Putting a celebrity on the main floor was a bad idea. "You better go in the back room." He grabbed Harry's arm and tugged him through the crowd. "Ron you're promoted from stock boy to salesman." George yelled over his shoulder at his brother as he herded Harry into the storage room.

.

Draco looked up from the cauldron he was brewing when someone stumbled into the room. "You got roped into helping too." He asked when he saw Potter decked out in an apron with shops logo. "I saw Weasley and that guy who used to do the Quidditch commentating earlier."

"Yeah. It's a team effort it seems." Harry sighed tiredly as he collapsed on the work bench.

"What have you been doing? You're all sweaty." Draco asked noticing Potter's state. The fringe of his hair was stuck to his forehead.

"George stuffed me in the back room because I was gathering too much attention." Harry sighed as he ran his hand through his hair. "I'm here hiding from him."

"Great hiding place, somewhere you come almost every day," Draco exclaimed sarcastically. As the days went on the shop had gotten even busier. It was only a couple days till Christmas now. "George is over-stressed right now so he has everyone working their asses off," Draco exclaimed as he continued brewing.

"Yeah. I think Verity is sleeping in your bed." Harry informed him.

"What?" Draco cried turning around to look at the brunet. As one of the only people who knew how to use the cash register, she was constantly busy. She was exhausted now so Draco didn't fault her. "She better change the sheets when she's done."

"At least you two are getting paid for the work you are doing," Harry replied cynically.

"If George isn't paying you guys why are you helping?" Draco asked curiously, looking up from his potion book.

"I think George is black mailing everyone," Harry replied flatly since he knew it was true.

"What's he have on you then?" Draco asked curiously, leaning forward on the table.

"Nothing," Harry replied immediately. "George just threatened to ban me from the shop if I didn't."

"I would have just left. George would forget about that threat by the next morning." Draco scoffed at the Brunets reasoning. "Beside you own a portion of the store. If George wanted to ban you, he would have to buy you out."

"Right. I forgot about that." Harry replied with a surprised tone. "Fuck." He always considered the shop George's but he actually owned 1/3 of it.

"You really are a silent partner." Draco shook his head. How much money did Potter have if he could just forget that he owned part of a business?

"There you are. You need to get back to work." George cried when he entered the room. Harry slumped out of the room knowing it was futile to argue. "And you, you don't have time to socialize."

"I'm brewing as fast as I can," Draco replied sardonically. "Unless you want an explosion?" He asked with a raised platinum eyebrow.

"Right. Carry on." George sighed as he went back to running the shop.

.

When Draco returned to his apartment that evening he found George and Potter drinking. There was paper spread out everywhere around them. "What are you two doing?" Draco inquired as he hung up his work robe.

"I have a new product I want to get running," George explained the reason for all the blue prints and notes. After over a year he was finally managing to work without his brother to bounce ideas off of. Malfoy leaned over to look the notes over.

"Where did you get the funding for this?" Draco had been the one doing the books. The shop had only been reopened for a month. He knew that they hadn't put enough money away to start making a new product this complex.

"A business partner is funding the bill until the product is up and running," George explained with a smile.

"We have a generous benefactor-" Draco raised a platinum eyebrow in surprise. "Who?"

Harry slumped in his chair sending a glare at George. Malfoy had reminded him that he had some stake in this business. He should start helping out more.

"I'm making jelly lightning bolts as an ode to his generosity." George held up a candy wrapper.

"George, no," Harry whined in embarrassment, sinking even further into his chair.

"I'm sure they will be best sellers." George opened the package and removed the candy from the packet to hold it up for them to see. The jelly was yellow and slightly see through. He took a bit out of it so it looked like a squiggle.

"Shouldn't you be making Christmas things?" Harry snapped at George in embarrassment. "Speaking of Christmas, there are absolutely no decorations in here. Where's your Christmas spirit?" Harry asked, noticing it looked like any other time of the year in the apartment. No tree or lights had been put up.

"I'm taking a pass on Christmas this year," Draco replied with crossed arms sitting in his favorite chair.

"You're like Ebenezer Scrooge," Harry exclaimed with exasperation.

"Who?" Draco asked confused. Whoever this person is they had the most horrible sounding name.

"He's a fictional Character…three ghosts of past present and future. Ring any bells?" Harry asked with some exasperation in his tone. The blonde's face became, even more, blank. "Or like the Grinch."

"Harry, I think you're just confusing him even more." George pointed out. "Malfoy here isn't going to know fictional muggle stories."

"Oh." Draco realized why he had never heard of any of these people.

"Any way they both hate Christmas but by the end of the stories they love it." Harry sighed in defeat. What he was trying to explain was going right over the Slytherin's head.

"I used to love Christmas, I just don't see the point anymore without my family around to celebrate," Draco replied pessimistically.

"As an orphan, I've learned that you have to make your own family," Harry exclaimed brightly.

Draco shifted uncomfortably. Here he was feeling sorry for himself when both his parents are still alive. When he saved up enough money he could go visit his mother in France. If he really wanted to he could visit his father even. Potter didn't have that chance. "I guess you're right."

He poured a glass of fire whiskey and offered it to Potter as an apology to his insensitive comment earlier.

o0o

Draco was taking his lunch break in the apartment when suddenly the floo lit up. He was so surprised he almost dropped his sandwich that Missy had made him. Looking up he saw Potter stepping out brushing soot off his clothes.

It was strange to see Potter in just normal street clothes instead of the grey trench coat. He had on a navy jumper with a white dress shirt underneath. "Why aren't you wearing your auror robes?" Draco found himself asking without thinking.

"We are actually on Christmas break now. So I'm free from any auror training until about January fifth." Harry replied with clear glee at the fact in his voice. He looked at where Malfoy's voice came from and furrowed his brows. "You're actually wearing it," Harry exclaimed in surprise, gesturing at the Slytherin.

Draco looked down to what he was wearing. He blushed when Draco realized why Potter was so shocked. That morning he had thrown on the green jumper that Mrs. Weasley had made for him. "I was cold and this jumper is really warm, so…" He shrugged uncomfortably.

"They are very comfortable. Now you can't fault me for wearing mine all through Hogwarts." Harry smirked at the Slytherin.

Draco stood up since he was done his lunch anyway. "I have to get back to work." He exclaimed as he exited the room.

"Don't run away. I was just teasing you." Harry called after the blonde who ignored his apology. He stood up with a sigh. Malfoy was so sensitive' he thought to himself as he followed the after him.

Draco was just walking through the door to the work room when suddenly he felt a force stopping him. Looking up he met a sprig of mistletoe.

"What are you doing standing in the doorway?" Harry asked curiously as he approached. He thought for sure the Slytherin would be immersed back in work already.

"Potter no…" Draco started to cry but the brunet had already reached the door. He stomped his foot when he realized what this meant. "This is just great."

"What the hell," Harry exclaimed as he tried to move into the workroom but finding a force stopping him. He looked at Malfoy for the answer and he just pointed upwards. When he saw the small innocent looking sprig of mistletoe, Harry swore.

"I don't have my wand on me. Do you." Draco asked after checking his pockets. Potter shook his head realizing he had left his wand on the table in the apartment in his rush to catch Malfoy.

"What should we do then? We're trapped here." Draco inquired, shifting anxiously. He knew that this was one of the Weasley holiday pranks. It looked harmless but he knew what it wanted. Things were never as innocent as they looked while in Weasley Wizard Wheezes.

"We should just get it over with." Harry tried to mentally prepare himself. Kissing Malfoy was not what Harry thought he would be doing today. It was only a peck on the lips though, it wasn't like he had to share saliva with him.

"Why are you so calm about this?" Draco asked annoyed how this didn't seem to bother the brunet.

"This really isn't a new prank. It's a Weasley twin holiday classic." Harry shrugged off the issue. "In the sixth year, there was one of these placed in the entrance to the Gryffindor common room, with a permanent sticking charm."

"Aww, yes my trap has caught two perfect specimens." George smirked diabolically at them as he approached. Rubbing his hands together with anticipation. He had heard Harry curse loudly from his office, he knew what it meant so he had come to check it out.

"This was your plan all along wasn't it?" Draco pointed a finger at the red head accusingly.

"What makes you say that?" George asked trying to look innocent. "I'm hurt."

"Why else would you put it in the doorway to my workroom?" Draco growled out. "The only people who ever go in here are me, Potter, and very rarely, you. Unless this is your way to announce your interest?" He asked sarcastically, knowing it was a totally platonic relationship between them.

"You found me out. I hand planned to lure you under it myself but Harry beat me to it." George exclaimed dramatically, pretending to swoon.

"Hah ha, very funny. Can you take it down now?" Draco asked cynically.

"No can do. It wouldn't be a prank if it was so easily avoided by a simple spell." George shook his head. "All you have to do is kiss each other." He said like it was a tiny detail.

"Has it escaped your notice that we are both guys and I am straight." Harry asked his friend. He had never kissed a male in his life. George thought Harry was just in denial about his sexual orientation. He had heard the whole reason for his break up with his sister through the family grapevine.

"Draco needs to get into the Christmas spirit. I thought this was the perfect chance." George explained his shotty reasoning for choosing them. "You have to do it now since the charm won't release you till you kiss each other."

Draco took a deep breath. "Ok, let's get this over with." He stood directly in front of Potter pursing his lips.

Harry realized that sometime since sixth year he had grown taller than Malfoy. The blonde's nose was at the same level as his jaw. It was strange sine he had always been shorter before. It was probably the Hermione had made him take some health shakes to counteract the malnutrition he suffered in childhood. Harry guessed they worked since he had reached a respectable height now.

"Don't look so smug." Draco accused as he realized how Potter had realized he had superior height on him. "Ready?" The brunet nodded and leaned forward. They quickly touched their lips together and then tried to dash in opposite directions.

"What the hell. Why didn't that work?" Harry asked himself since he had done it many times before at school. A peck on the cheek was usually enough to release the spell. Then it clicked. "George, why didn't that work?" He asked with a dangerous note in his tone.

"You didn't think I did this for shits and giggles, did you? Well not just shits and giggles." George smirked to himself as he shrugged in amusement. "I thought it was time for an upgrade."

"So this is just product testing." Harry sighed with exasperation in his tone.

"And we are the lab rats," Draco said flatly unamused by the situation he found himself in.

"There is now several setting that the customer can chose from of how much is required to release the spell." George explained the new upgrades he added.

"And you used the highest one?" Harry asked with apprehension. Did they have to get to third base or something before they could go about their day?

"Maybe." George smirked mischievously, then he sighed. "It works with a timer ok. Your lips have to be touching for a certain length of time before the charm releases you."

"Great." Draco scoffed when he heard what they had to do. "If we have to do this, you aren't watching though." Draco looked at his boss with determination. "Leave."

"But I have to see if the charm is successful." George exclaimed trying to make a reason he had to stay and watch.

"I'll tell you if it works or not. Now scat." Draco pointed determinedly. George reluctantly turned to leave them. "Go around the corner."

"So we have some privacy now. How do you want to do this, thing?" Harry gestured at the innocent looking mistletoe that was clearly evil. He was surprised when he was pulled forward by the front of his robe and he felt a warm pair of lips touch his. His eye's widened when he looked into the eyes that dared him to say anything.

Draco had decided to just kiss Potter to get it over with. It would have been too embarrassing if they both had to lean towards each other aware of what would happen. A sneak attack was a much better way to go. It was still a little awkward because Potter's hands had gotten squeezed between them. He tried not to think about what he was doing. As soon as Draco felt the spell release him he dashed away.

Harry stared after the blonde's retreating form with a surprised expression. It happened so quickly he didn't even have a chance to really register what was happening. He touched his lips thoughtfully as he turned around to leave.

"It was just a stupid Christmas tradition. It didn't mean anything." Harry told himself as he left the shop for the day. He probably wouldn't see Malfoy until after Christmas. Hopefully he would be able to look him the eye by then.

                                                                    

o0o

George jumped on the bed that his potion master was occupying. "Wake up. It's Christmas."

"So." Draco snapped as he rolled over and tried to fall back asleep. There really was nothing to look forward to this year. His father was in prison and his mother was in France. He shivered when his blanket was ripped off of him.

Draco sat up and darkly glared at his boss.

With reluctance he climbed from his bed and followed the red head to the living room. A large Christmas tree was placed in the middle of the living room. It hadn't been there the day before. "Where did this come from?' Draco asked amazed that he hadn't heard anything.

"It's one of the Instant Christmas Trees products. For people who are too lazy to buy and decorate one themselves." George exclaimed proudly. "Or in your case, too depressed."

"I'm not depressed." Draco denied the allegation sulkily.

"This whole month you've been moping." George pointed out.

Draco didn't argue because he knew that his boss was right. He was surprised how many gifts he actually did have under the fake tree. Missy must have been hoarding his packages so that he would have a surprise. Looking at them Draco decided which one to open up first.

Knowing Blaise's dirty mind he knew it was safer to open that one in private. He kicked it out of the way so that it was hidden behind the tree and out of George's sight. There was one that had lions on it that roared. Draco furrowed his brow when he saw that Potter had actually bought him something. When he opened Potter's gift he found it was a box of chocolates.

"He knows your weakness." George whispered teasingly.

Draco elbowed him. It was true that this was the second box of chocolates that Potter had gifted him in only a few short months. The last one was an apology, he wondered what this one meant.

When he saw the bright red gift paper George sighed with embarrassment. "Just open it." Molly Weasley was written in a neat script on the tag. Draco was surprised to be receiving something else from the women since he had already gotten a sweater. When he opened it he found matching scarf and mittens to his jumper. The wool was soft against his fingers.

Even though his mother couldn't come herself she had sent a package. When he unwrapped the brown paper it revealed shiny silver wrapping paper. He could see his face in it. He gingerly undid the tape keeping it together.

"Just rip into it." George encouraged.

Draco ignored him and kept the paper intact. When he was done it revealed some new robes. It was a very practical gift. He noticed there was a lump in the middle like something had been placed between them. After he reached in and pulled it out he revealed a stuffed toy dragon.

"That is adorable." George exclaimed when he saw the stuffed animal.

"This was mine when I was a child." Draco blinked in surprise. "I thought it had been lost a long time ago." He used to drag this thing all over the place. That was until he was nine and his father took it away stating that "He would be going to Hogwarts soon, he needed to grow up." It was true he would have been teased mercilessly if he carried a stuff animal around.

Draco blinked when he noticed a very large flat present leaned up against the wall near the tree. "Is this for me also?" Draco asked with surprise, it was cover in green wrapping paper with slithering snakes crawling all over it.

"Yes, this one is from me. Merry Christmas." George cried jollily. "Open it." He demanded with anticipation in his tone.

Draco was nervous about opening a present from George. It could be anything. "It isn't going to attack me is it?"

"No." George scoffed but then he thought on it a little more. "At least not physically."

'The answer wasn't very reassuring.' Draco thought as he ripped the shiny green wrapping paper and immediately the peeved voice of someone emerged. "Is that who I think it is?" He asked himself, quickly ripping off the rest of the paper to see if he was right. "Severus." He said in disbelief when he met the unimpressed look of his godfather.

"Yes, took you long enough." Snape sneered. He had not enjoyed being wrapped up for so long.

"How the hell did you get this?" Draco asked still in shock. As far as he knew Severus had never sat for any portraits.

"Well since Snape was the head master of Hogwarts, the school automatically produced a portrait after he died." George exclaimed like it was obvious.

"That explains why it exists, not why it's here." Draco pointed out. If this was Severus's head masters portrait it should be hung up with all the other portraits in the office.

"Because of the circumstances that Snape was placed in the headmaster position, there have been large arguments about whether he should be placed in the head office or not. Even with Harry's testimony about how he never betrayed Dumbledore hasn't helped." George started to explain.

"How did you get possession of Severus Snape's only portrait?" Draco asked curiously.

"I overheard McGonagall at my mother's Christmas party, talking about how he was just lying in a storage room till they come to a decision. I inquired about procuring it and she agreed to let me borrow it." George shrugged with a smile. "So you are on lone." He addressed the potion master's portrait.

"Thank god for that?" Snape exclaimed snidely.

o0o

The shop was closed on Christmas day but the next day would be one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Diagon Alley would be swarming with shoppers by the next morning. He didn't have time to relax since he needed time to prepare.

Since Draco was brewing potions and he had just been gifted a potion master, he decided it would be a good idea to hang Severus up in the work room. He was totally regretting that thought now. "If you don't stop distracting me while I'm working, I will hang you in the middle of the joke shop." Draco threatened with a glare. "You know how much you hate children."

Snape sneered at his godson. Sitting back in his chair with crossed arms. He watched his protégé work with sharp eyes to see any mistakes. "You know you are wasting your talents here." Severus gestured around the workroom.

"It's not like people were fighting each other to have me work for them." Draco snapped in frustration. "George generously offered to hire me when no one else would. I like working here."

"What is there to like." Snape sneered. "You have too much potential to waste it in a joke shop, making tricks for kids." He had been training Draco to take over his position as potion master at Hogwarts. This was not the future he had expected for the boy.

"Stop judging me!" Draco snapped, fed up with his god father's negative outlook. He found that he was feeling stressed so he was messing up the potion. "I can't deal with you right now." Draco stomped out of the work room. The box of chocolate Potter gave him would come in handy since he needed some stat.

…

Harry entered the work room and found it to be empty. It was strange for this time of the day. Four days had passed since he had seen Malfoy. Hopefully it was enough time so it wouldn't be awkward between them.

"Potter."

He squeaked in fright when he heard a voice talk behind him. It couldn't be who he thought it was. He must be hearing things. Turning around slowly, he paled. "What the fuck!" Harry cursed as he met the dark eyes of one Severus Snape. "When the fuck did you… How?"

"George Weasley's idea of a joke." Snape shrugged. "If you are looking for the Weasley twin he is in his office." Snape exclaimed, trying to lead the boy elsewhere.

"No, I'm not here for George." Harry shook his head. "I'm actually here to see Draco." Snape zeroed in the fact that Potter had actually used his god son's first name.

"Oh Harry, you're here." Draco exclaimed when he came in like it was a normal occurrence. He had a chance to calm down enough to get back to work.

'This isn't right.' Snape thought as he observed their interactions. They are supposed to swear and fight with each other, not leisurely have tea time together. Has the world gone crazy since he died?

"I demand to know what is going on here?" Snape commanded in his teacher voice, like they were naughty students who had played a prank and refused to reveal which one was responsible. Potter and Malfoy shared looks of understanding, shared looks.

"A lot has changed since the end of the war." Draco tried to explain this development. "I've had to adapt to the new world."

"So what? You two are actually, friends." Snape spate the last word out like it was a dirty word.

"Yes, Severus." Draco sighed, rubbing his temples. "We aren't in school anymore."

"It doesn't matter how long you have been out of school, you will always, always, think of each other as Slytherins and Gryffindors." Snape looked at them intently. He knew from his own experience that after seven years it was too ingrained in your mind to think of each other by their houses.

Snape knew that if he was actually alive now would be the time to make his dramatic exit. As a portrait he was trapped with nowhere to go. "I demand you have another painting made of me so I have somewhere to escape to." Snape demanded kicking the edge of the frame.

                                                          

**Happy Christmas** … **TBC**

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I kept my promise and got this chapter posted before Christmas. I did some paintings in the past two days to inspire me to finish it. I don't understand why but they are coming out a little pixelated on here. I'll have to figure that out later. (Never Mind, figure it out)  
> I was writing kissing scene and I really wanted to draw it so I did. I like how Harry just looks shocked and Draco is like "I dare you to say anything." I put little sparkles around the mistletoe toe because it's supposed to be magical. Snape was a really quick painting I started late at night. Could have turned out better but it was my first time drawing him.


	7. Wine

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has been a long time since i posted. Over the Christmas break I started to read Sherlock fanfiction which clouded my mind. I stopped doing that for now so that I can finish posting my stories. I was also thrown off because originally Snape wasn't featured in any of this so I had to move his portrait.
> 
> Originally after I wrote this chapter I thought it was getting a little romantic too soon. But it is valentines Day today so I thought it may be appropriate. I set a goal to have this posted by the end of today.
> 
> Would have had this finished sooner but I started to watch a Korean show on Netflix called Coffee Prince and I got addicted. I can't multitask when I have to read subtitles. Luckily there is only one season so I'll run out of episodes soon.

**...^.0.^...**

Draco tried to ignore Snape's running commentary as much as possible. He had originally thought it would be a great idea to have Severus help with the potion brewing. He had forgotten though how nit picky the potion master could be.

"You're doing it wrong." Draco heard just as he was pacing an ingredient in the cauldron. Instead of lowering it slowly in like the instructions said, Draco ended up dropping it in with a splash. It was a delicate potion so that one slip up ended up ruining the whole thing.

"That's it." Draco snapped, finally at his wits ends. After days of the constant criticism, he'd enough. He stalked over to the wall where the painting was hanging and lifted it off the nail.

"What are you doing?" Snape inquired alarmed.

"Moving you." Draco exclaimed as he struggled under the heavy weight of the frame. He managed to slide the frame across the floor.

Harry slowed his steps up the stairs when he spotted Malfoy trying to shove Snape's frame out of the work room. "What are you doing?" He asked with a raised eyebrow

"Don't question me, just help me move him." Draco called over his shoulder.

"Really." Harry shook his head as he walked over to grab the other end of the frame. They both lifted then shuffled along the landing. "The things I do for you."

"No complaining. You didn't like Severus being in the work room as much as I did." Draco said as they carried it up the short flight of stairs. They leaned the potion masters portrait against the hallway wall.

"You'll regret not having my help when your brewing later." Severus snapped with a disgruntled look.

"No I won't." Draco brushed his hands together then turned on his heel and left the apartment.

"Was he really that bad?" harry asked as he followed the blonde back down the stairs.

"I kept screwing up because he made me doubt myself." Draco complained as he stormed back into the work room. Flicking his wand he emptied the cauldron. He turned to recollect ingredients. "Now I have to start all over again."

Harry sat down and checked the time. "Crap, I have to go already. We wasted all my time moving that dam portrait." His lunch period had really flew by already. He had been a far distance away so it had taken a while to get to the shop. Had spending ten minutes with Malfoy really been worth it? "I never get around to eating when I come and visit you."

"If you don't actually have time to spare, you don't have to force yourself to come see me." Draco exclaimed once he had everything organized on the table. "I wouldn't be offended."

"You say that now, but you'd miss me if I didn't show up." Harry exclaimed with an amused smirk. They were entering the next stage of training so it would only grow busier. "I would probably never get a chance to see you if i didn't put any effort into it."

"Didn't you have to leave?" Draco asked realizing that Potter was just standing there watching him work.

"Dam you're right." Harry scrambled to his feet and rushed towards the door.

"Hey Potter! Catch."

Harry turned on his heel and caught whatever the blonde had thrown. His seeker reflexes plucking it out of the air. When he looked down he saw it was a packaged sandwich. "Thanks."

"Can't have you wasting away now." Draco had turned back to brewing with a conceited smirk on his face. Potter sent a thankful smile his way before dashing out. Since the brunet had tried so hard for just a few minutes of interaction Draco had a feeling he wouldn't be seeing Potter till the next day at least.

**^.0.^**

"I told you to stop following me." Draco could hear Potter's distinct voice yell at someone. Was one of his fan girls' stalking him again? When Potter finally entered, he was followed in by another auror in training. It wasn't once he recognized. Draco thought he knew all of them.

"Taylor! Back off." Harry growled at his current partner. He wasn't sure how he was going to survive the next few months. After only a few hours Harry already wanted to kill the other man.

The auror department in their desperation to renew their numbers had accepted transfers from foreign countries outside the United Kingdom. That had attracted this toe rag. He had never liked Taylor and getting stuck with him was torture. The Auror Academy assured them that partners were picked randomly but Harry suspected that the head auror had placed them together on purpose.

He was like the complete opposite of him. While Harry avoided attention and praise, Derek sought it out. When Harry would run from the press Taylor would pose for pictures. What was really pissing him off though is that Taylor had given an exclusive to the prophet about being picked as Harry Potter's new partner.

"Don't ask." Harry shook his head at the look Malfoy shot him. He collapsed on the work bench with his head pillowed on his arms. Taylor was giving him a headache.

When Draco looked away from Potter who was sulking he noticed that the smiling auror was checking out his form. "You must be the reason Potter wanted to escape work for. I'm Derek." The man held out his hand.

"I thought Potter said your name is Taylor?" Draco asked confused not reaching to accept the hand. The auror had dirty blonde hair with a slight wave to it, a earring in his left ear lope. Even though he had fair hair colour there was a distinct tan to his skin. He guessed he came from a warmer climate than the United Kingdom.

"Last name." Taylor answered. "What's your name?" Derek probed for more information about him.

"Aussie?" Draco replied finally placing the accent.

"Yes." Derek was impressed that he could pick that up so quickly. Most people just assumed he was English because his accent wasn't strong. He tried to never say words that were associated like mate or dingo which made his accent flare up. "You still haven't answered me. What's your name?"

"Draco Malfoy." He thought this is the moment when the young auror would recoil and pretend he had to go somewhere else.

"I've heard of you. You are legendary amongst your ex-classmates." Derek exclaimed with a bright grin.

"Yeah well." Draco sighed knowing what his ex-classmates must have been saying about him. He knew at Hogwarts he had acted a spoiled rotten prat. It appeared that Draco just seemed to fascinate the auror even more now that he knew some of his background.

"Harry, I thought I saw you come in." George said leaning on the doorway. "Can I get your help with something? It's a business matter."

"Sure. I'll be back in a few." Harry walked out of the room and followed George down to his office.

As soon as Potter left the room to retrieve something from George, Derek slid up beside him. "Want to get something to eat?"

"Are you asking me out?" Draco raised an eyebrow. It had been a long time since anyone had tried to hit on him. Though it had not been the first time a guy had shown interest.

"Maybe." Derek shrugged and looked at him with anticipation.

"Taylor! We're being called in." Harry returned suddenly holding a letter in his hand. He had to resist snapping when he saw the way his partner was leaning over Malfoy who was against the wall. He'd seen the Aussie try and chat up females before at the ministry and the pose was strangely reminiscent of that one. It did not sit well with him.

"Got to go." Derek turned to leave with a reluctant sigh. He walked backwards so that he was facing his prey. "Think about it though." He pushed the curtain aside and disappeared out the door from his sight.

"Think about what?" Harry asked suspiciously catching the innuendo. What had Taylor asked Malfoy to do.

"Nothing." Draco brushed off the question. "Don't you have somewhere you have to be?" With one last suspicious look Potter stormed out to complete whatever case he was assigned. Draco shook his head. He went back to work. Potter certainty made his life interesting. Him and all the friends and acquaintances that came with him.

**^._.^**

Harry had managed to give Taylor the slip. Checking behind him just to make sure, he sighed with relief when he didn't see anyone. Coming to the shop was his thing. He didn't like sharing his time with Malfoy. Yesterday Taylor had managed to spend more time with blonde than he did too.

Since it was already past four in the afternoon the shop was filled with parents accompanying their children. Harry had to wade through the crowd to get to the stairs. He pushed open the curtain to the work room to find it free of fumes for once. Judging by the vials that were lined up on the work table, full with the stopper in place; he had just finished brewing a batch. It appeared that Malfoy was between potions so he was taking a break.

When Harry searched for Malfoy's location he spotted the blonde leaning over something on the far side of the room. Being silent so as not to alert Malfoy to his presence, Harry snuck across floor with quite steps. When he was directly behind the blonde he asked "What are you doing?"

"Ah!" Draco yelled in surprise. Whipping around to see who had spoken. "Nothing Potter." He tried to use his body to hide something.

Harry narrowed his eyes in suspicion. Grabbing Malfoy by the shoulders he moved him out of the way so that he could see what the Slytherin had been hiding. "Is that a puffkin?"

"Yes." Draco admitted seeing as there was no way he could play the creature off as anything else. "The shop supplies them you know."

"Then why is this one in here and not out in the display case?" Harry asked looking at the blonde pryingly. Then it hit him. "It's yours isn't it?"

"No." Draco immediately denied bristling at the accusation.

"Oh my god. You got a puffkin. That's adorable." Harry mocked with glee as he leaned forward to get a better look. It had unique colouring with it's bright yellow fur and green skin. The ones the shop had usually leaned towards more girly tones. "Aren't they for pre-teen girls?"

"Shut up." Draco snapped turning and scoping the puffkin into his palm. "Come on Lemondrop. We don't have to stay with this swine." With a superior air he glided from the room with as much of his dignity as he could gather.

Harry stood there laughing at the hilarity of the situation. Malfoy having a puffkin was the last thing Harry had ever suspected to happen. When he calmed down Harry looked at his watch and sighed with disappointment. He had wanted to come here and spend his lunch with Malfoy but he had frightened the Slytherin off with his teasing.

Knowing how prickly Malfoy could be when his ego was hurt, Harry knew that he would get scowled at if he tried to follow him immediately. It was a small matter that blow over in no time so he didn't feel the need to apologize this time. Malfoy did apparently have a pet puffkin and he couldn't deny the fact. Harry smiled in amusement when he remembered that Slytherin had called it Lemon-drop.

"Hah found you."

Harry snapped his head up to see Taylor in the door way. He sighed in defeat that he had been found so soon. There was always tomorrow.

^._.^

Draco placed the puffkin on a throw pillow on the couch when he got back up to his apartment.

Over the past few weeks or so he had grown to love the little bugger. Even though all he received were blank stares as he rattled off to the thing. He'd never owned a pet before. The eagle owl his father sent him to school with didn't count. This was just his to love and take care of.

George was just exiting the floo in time to see Malfoy collapsing despondently on the purple striped couch. "Everything ok?" He asked searchingly and only received a groan from the blonde who had hid his face in a pillow. "That bad huh."

"It's really nothing to worry about." Draco said into the pillow. He turned his face to the side so he could speak properly. "Potter found out about Lemon-drop."

"Really, how thick is Harry. You've had him for close to a month now." George said sarcastically with amusement. "Like how could he miss the ball of fur? Lemon-drop is bright yellow."

"I either had Lemon-drop in my pocket or left him in the apartment when Potter was here before." Draco shrugged plucking the puffkin off the pillow and plopping it on his chest.

"I don't see why you care what Potter thinks." Snape said dryly.

"I don't care what you think, Severus." Draco snapped back at the portrait. The potion master usually ignored their conversations since he moved him up here yesterday. The house elf popped in with his usual evening tea. "Thank you Missy." Draco said as he sat up to pour himself a cup. A warm beverage always made him feel better after a long day.

The house elf apparated away and then immediately returned with a packet of chocolate biscuits. She must have picked up on his mood. "You know me so well." Missy curtsied and then popped out of existence once again. Draco immediately ripped open the package and bit into a cookie with a groan of relief. It was just what he needed.

George retrieved a bottle he had stashed away behind a stack of muggle fiction. He knew it would be safe there because the Slytherin had no interest in them at all. Malfoy was going to take a sip of tea but George poured some fire whiskey in it. "Alcoholic tea, what's the occasion?" He raised a platinum eye brow at his boss.

"Why not." George shrugged pouring some into his own cup. He took a sip and enjoyed the burn as it went down. Sitting back into cushions he felt all the tension in his body loosen up. He had gone to visit his mother and she had become a little overbearing since Fred's death. "Has all the brewing been going smoothly?" George asked because he wanted to think about something else.

"I would be a lot more productive if Potter wasn't distracting me." Draco sighed bitterly sipping at his tea. There was more tea than fire whiskey so there was a pleasant burn as it went down.

"He's very distracting is he?" George said with a tone that he was insinuation something.

"Why can't Potter just leave me alone?" Draco complained though he knew he didn't truly mean it. Draco was just sore from the ribbing he had been given over his pet. If Potter stopped coming to the shop he would be devastated. He had come to depend on the Gryffindor's daily visits.

"Harry just can't stay away. I think someone has a crush." George teased with a wiggle of his eye brows.

"Don't even joke about that." Draco tried to hide a blush behind his cup.

"Me not joke? It's what I do." George smirked deviously. "Harry wants, to get into your pants." He sung then cackled when Malfoy tried to kick at him but he was too far away.

"It's not funny." Draco cried in mortification. "Do you think he's still here?" He asked nervously as he sat back with a tired sigh.

"Potter already left." Snape answered.

"How do you know that? You've been here with us this whole time." Draco asked baffled why the potion master would be so sure of that..

"I just do." Snape claimed as he went back to reading.

**^._.^**

The next day when Potter showed up Draco felt uncomfortable. He kept blushing in embarrassment and peaking at him over his shoulder. Potter couldn't want him like that. George was just teasing him.

"Is something wrong?" Harry asked picking up on the weird behaviour. Usually the Slytherin was cool and egotistical in his presence.

"Wrong? No." Draco responded. He felt his heart beating faster.

"You just seem a little jumpy." Harry pointed out.

"Just didn't get much sleep last night." Draco said as an excuse.

**...^.0.^...**

It was already late in the evening by the time Potter walked into the workroom with slumped shoulders. Draco had been beginning to think that he wasn't coming that day at all.

"Another day of solving insignificant crimes." Draco teased as he wiped down his work station. Just having finished work for the day himself.

"Yes." Harry sighed deeply. "For insignificant petty crimes though they take allot of energy. Jeez my muscles hurt." He complained as he rubbed at his shoulders. They had them pull crates out of a warehouse so that they could search for illegal potion ingredients that weren't even there. Taylor had mostly just stood there while he did most of the work too.

"I may have something for that." Draco dropped his rag and walked over to where he kept his potion stock. In his extra time he brewed some potions to use personally. Searching through he found the correct one, pulled it free from the cramped cupboard.

"What no offer of a back massage?" Harry asked sarcastically with a small smirk.

Draco snorted at the ridiculous suggestion. "Very unlikely. Here." He handed the jar over. "Just rub this salve on your shoulder and it should ease the muscle pain." Potter started to unbutton his auror robes. "What are you doing?" Draco asked as the jumper came off next. Why was Potter striping I the middle of the work room?

"Doing as you said. Applying the paste." Harry answered continuing to undress. His coat was off suddenly.

"I meant in the privacy of your own home." Draco said with exasperation.

"The shops already closed so I don't think anyone is going to walk in on me. I don't think I can wait. It is really bothering me." Harry answered, tugging his shirt over his head with a wince of pain.

All his bare skin was revealed to Draco and he flushed at the sight. Potter's skin was tanned and all his auror training had given his nice muscle tone.

Harry unscrewed the lid of the jar and dipped his hand in. He tried to reach back but he couldn't stretch far enough to cover the whole area. It was like trying to apply sunscreen to your back; impossible without someone else's assistance. "Hey Malfoy can I get some help?"

Draco tensed at suddenly being addressed. "What?" He asked snapping out of his trance.

"I can't reach. Do you think you can rub it in?" Harry asked, emphasizing his point by twisting his torso to show his range of movement.

"You can do it yourself." Draco shook his head in denial and stepped back.

"Please." Harry begged with wide pleading eyes.

Draco couldn't resist his green puppy dog eyes. "Fine." He stalked over and took the jar from his hands and stepped behind him. Dipping his hand into the salve he spread it over both his hands. Taking a deep breath before tenderly touching his fingers into Potters shoulder blades. He rubbed his hands back and forth over the soft skin.

"Lower." Harry rasped out. Malfoy's hands felt amazing on his body. He melted when the salve was spread over all of his aching muscles. Even though the pain was completely gone now he didn't tell Malfoy to stop. He couldn't groan of pleasure in when the blonde's fingers dug into his shoulders.

When Potter made a noise Draco snapped out of his daze. He realized he had started to knead the muscles under his fingers subconsciously. "Done." He stepped away putting his arms behind his back so he wouldn't reach out to touch Potter's soft skin again. He cleared his throat nervously as he wiped his hands on a cloth to remove the paste.

"You gave me a massage after all." Harry teased with amusement..

"You brute." Draco huffed, throwing the towel he had been holding at Potter's face. He cursed the gits seeker skills as he just plucked it out of the air and laughed.

"Before I leave, do you need...?" George started to say but he froze in his steps. He looked towards the half naked Harry to the flushed face of Draco. "Did I disturb something?"

"This isn't what it looks like." Draco snapped as he noticed the lecherous grin on the red heads face. "Potter just had some muscle pain and I was helping him apply some healing salve."

"Sure you were." George rolled his eyes at their denial. He didn't believe a word of it.

"It's the truth." Draco stomped his foot petulantly.

Harry quickly pulled his shirt back on. "I'm just going to go." Grabbing his Auror robe he slipped out with a red blush on his cheeks.

"Don't say a word." Draco defensively as he walked by.

**^.0.^**

Draco hummed as he worked. After working at the shop for close to two months now he had gotten a routine down. He was very comfortable as he worked. Someone cleared there throat as if to gain his attention. Looking over to the door he spotted a man with tan skin.

"Long time no see." The Italian man exclaimed holding his arms out.

"Blaise!" Draco gasped out at the sight of his old friend. He ran over and threw his arms around him. "When did you get back?"

Blaise hugged his estranged friend tightly swinging him around. Looking over the blonde's shoulder he tensed when he met the heated glare of one Harry Potter. The look spoke volumes. It felt like he was doing something wrong now. "Um."

"What?" Draco asked noticing how tense Blaise had become. Leaning back he followed his eyes direction towards the door to see Potter standing there. "Oh it's just you."

"Yeah, me." Harry replied with his arms crossed. The man hugging Malfoy seemed familiar for some reason.

"Potter, you remember Blaise Zabini from Hogwarts." Draco introduced them.

"Yes, he was in Slytherin with you, right?" Harry asked though he knew. Now he could place where he knew the man from.

"It's nice to see you again." Blaise offered his hand and when Potter shook it he squeezed it hard enough to hurt. When the Gryffindor turned his attention back to Draco, he shook his hand in pain while they weren't paying attention to him.

"How'd you know where to find me?" Draco asked realizing he never told him where he ended up.

"I owled your mother since I wanted to surprise you." Blaise replied with a smirk. "It was a complete shock to hear that you ended up working under one of the Weasley twins. You seem happy though so it can't be too bad."

"Not all of us can just travel the world spending our inheritance." Draco exclaimed smacking his friend in the shoulder with a cloth. "Some of us actually have to work to make money to get by."

"Is that where you've been this whole time?" Harry asked, he had wondered why he had never seen the Italian if he was such good friends with Malfoy.

"Basically. I left the country during the war since I was neutral. I had friends on both sides and just didn't want to chose. Even after the war was over I didn't feel ready to come back." Blaise explained how he ended up traveling for so long.

"You didn't fight in the war at all? Harry asked amazed that someone could actually just decided to skip it and leave everyone behind.

"Left before everything got bad. Alot of people did if they had no good reason to stay." Blaise shot a pointed look at Malfoy. "Some of them were just too over our heads to get out."

"I know I was in deep shit back then." Draco exclaimed with a tender expression. He looked at the cauldron and the ingredients he had lined up. It was still early in the day."I still have work to finish. We should go to dinner later." Draco suggested openly.

"I'll come by to pick you up then." Blaise nodded in agreement. He didn't have any set plans for the rest of the day. "What time?"

"Around seven." Draco smiled at his old friend.

"See you then." Blaise turned around to leave. Speed walking to get out from under Potter's glare. Once he was on the other side of the curtain he stopped. "That was weird." He mumbled to himself.

"What was weird?"

Snapping his head to where the voice came from Blaise met the smirking face of one George Weasley. He knew what the man looked like even f they had never spoken before. The twins had been infamous at school for their pranks. "Potter's behavior."

"In what way?" George asked curiously.

"I swear Potter was going to shoot lighting out of his eyes at me." Blaise exclaimed dramatically.

"Aw yes." George nodded in understanding of what was going on. "Come." He slipped his arm around the Italians shoulder. "I'll pour you a drink."

^.0.^

George closed the door to his office behind them. "Sit." He gestured to the seat in front of his desk. He walked around to the other side of his desk and grabbed two goblets.

Blaise nodded and plopped himself down on the bright pink with yellow dots chair. Weasley had a strange sense of interior design.

"Jealousy." George said as he poured the fire whiskey into the crystal glasses.

"What?" Blaise asked confused by the random word.

"That's why Harry was glaring at you." George explained simply.

"You mean…?" Blaise started to ask. When Weasley gave a lecherous smirk in return he sat back stunned. "Wow. When did they start going out?" Blaise asked.

"Oh nothing has happened between them. Yet." George exclaimed taking a sip of fire whiskey.

"You mean they both like each other but are too stubborn to do something." Blaise realized the situation.

"That's why Harry's jealous of you. As one of Malfoy's oldest friends you have permission to get close to him in ways that Harry can't." George explained the reasoning behind the brunets actions.

"Like how Draco greets me with a hug." Blaise asked to clarify.

"Precisely." George nodded.

"I had a first row seat in school to witness the altercations between those two." Blaise exclaimed, shaking his head in confusion. "How did they even start to like each other? They hated each other with a passion."

"It didn't happen overnight I can tell you." George exclaimed with a deep breath. "At first they hurt each other then I made Harry apologize. They made a truce. Harry started to show up at the shop just about every day. The real turning point was when Malfoy got assaulted by some people. Harry's protective instincts kicked in, you know how it goes.."

"You are going to dinner with Draco right?" The Italian nodded at George's question. "I got a plan, to push them along a little."

^.0.^

Blaise showed up to pick up Draco at exactly the arranged time. When he walked into the workroom Potter was there also. He wondered if the Gryffindor had even left at all. They had a peculiar relationship going. It appeared that Draco was just finishing up for the day.

"Blaise you're here already. Is it really that late?" Draco looked at the clock. "I just need to change and we can go." The blonde glided out of the room wiping his hands on a rag as he went. He wished he had time for a shower but that didn't seem like it would happen. A fresh pair of clothes would just have to do.

It left Blaise alone with Potter who was leaning against the work table with his arms crossed. He was intimidating without trying to be. "Potter would you like to come along?" Blaise offered just as the Weasley twin suggested. Catching up with Draco was his first priority but he would humor the plan for

"I wouldn't want to intrude." Harry said unsure about the offer. Would Malfoy even want him to come along? He would attract too much attention if they went somewhere on Diagon Alley.

"We'll go to a muggle restaurant so you two won't have to deal with people staring at you." Blaise offered to make them feel more comfortable. Since he graduated from Hogwarts he knew a lot more of the muggle world. When he traveled he had decided to broaden his horizons outside the magic community.

Malfoy walked back in wearing his coat and mittens, Along with the grey knitted cap that Harry had given him.

"Potter is going to come with us." Blaise informed the blonde.

"That's fine with me." Draco nodded in understanding. "Where should we go?"

"We'll go to a muggle place since both of you together would cause too much of a scene." Blaise explained their plans.

"I haven't been to any muggle place before." Draco replied unsure. Even though he wasn't excepted in the magical community anymore because of his past, he had never been brave enough to venture into the muggle world. It was still such a mystery to him.

"Don't worry." Blaise herded the blonde out the door. "I know the perfect place."

^.0.^

"Really Blaise, Italian?" Draco said as they stopped in front of a restaurant that had the flag hanging above the entrance.

"What can I say, it's my heritage." Blaise held the door open for the other two to enter. The atmosphere was warm and sophisticated. "Three." He spoke to the hostess who grabbed three menus and led them over to a table by the window.

Sitting down they all stripped off their winter layers. Hanging them off the back of the chairs. When Draco took off his hat his hair was sticking up with static from the wool. Blaise tried to keep his comment to himself about how the blonde would have never let himself appear less than perfect in public like that in the past.

"Welcome to Caravaggio's." An attractive blonde waitress approached the table. She blushed when she realized it was a table of three attractive men. "Can I get you anything to drink for starters?" Holding up her note pad and pen.

Blaise gave her legs an appreciative look as they were shown off with the short length of her black dress. While the other two hardly sparred her a glance and talked amongst each other as they looked over the menus. He was beginning to understand what George meant. These two had eyes only for each other but were too thick to realize it. "A bottle of red wine."

The waitress wrote it down and sent Blaise a smoldering look over her shoulder. Maybe he wouldn't be going home alone once he ditched these too idiots. "Do you know what you want?" He already had what he wanted in his mind before they came in. They both nodded as they closed their menus. "We're ready to order." Blaise said when the waitress returned with the wine.

They talked as they waited for their food. Blaise talked about his travels and all the men and women he had met. Potter shot him a look of astonishment when he realized he was bisexual. He was very open with his sexuality since he found both genders attractive. In school though he had made it a rule to never date his bunk mates since if it went bad they had easy access to him while he was asleep and vulnerable.

Blaise teased that he was hurt that Draco had never tried to write to him. "I would have written you but I had no idea which side of the world you were on." Draco exclaimed.

"Too true. I've been everywhere the past two years. I would have invited you to come along once the war was over but you aren't allowed to leave the country." Blaise gestured down to his friends left arm.

"How long are you staying in the country for?" Potter asked, Blaise had a suspicion the brunet wanted him to leave Britain again as soon as possible. Potter had no reason to worry though because Draco was too ingrained as a brother figure in his life.

Their food arrived carried in by two different waiters. The auburn hair one shot Draco an appreciative look that he was completely oblivious to. Potter shot a glare and subconsciously moved his chair closer. The waiter picked up on the possessive vibe and backed off leaving them alone to enjoy their meal.

Blaise shook his head at their actions as he took a deep sip of his wine. They are both idiots to not notice their own actions he thought. "Do you want to hear some stories about Draco?" He asked Potter was paying way too much attention to his food.

"You don't know shit." Draco exclaimed as he sipped at the red wine. He had already had enough of the rich ravioli that he had ordered.

"Remember I shared a dorm room with you for seven years." Blaise exclaimed with a smirk. Cutting his veal he ate some of his dish.

"Embarrassing stories from Hogwarts." Harry exclaimed with glee. Leaning forward on the table eagerly. Maybe Zabini did have some uses. "Go on let's hear it."

"Blaise, no." Draco growled in warning.

"At Hogwarts, Draco called Pansy a Fat Cow, in retaliation she charmed Draco into a perm. So every morning for a month he would spend hours every morning straitening his hair."

Draco sunk in his seat with mortification with his hands over his face to hide his blush. "Blaise I'm going to kill you."

"Oh you love me and you know it." Blaise brushed off the death threat. It was the glare he received from Potter he had to worry about. Draco was all bark and no bite. He couldn't kill anyone no matter how much his sense of self-preservation was telling him to. Potter was another matter. From what he'd heard the saviour had a temper and could snap at any moment when provoked.

Note to self; do not insinuate that Draco was in love with him.

"Or the time…" Blaise started to say with glee but stopped when he was kicked in the shin. "Owe. Fine ruin my fun." He pouted then started to finish his veal. The evening had been pleasant so far. Blaise hadn't realized how much he had missed Draco while he had been away.

It was time though to put Weasley's plan into action. Blaise knew Draco would want to stay for desert. The boy had a sweet tooth a mile wide. He was counting on the fact that he still did. Once they were finished their main course Blaise made a huge show of checking his watch. "Look at the time already. I must be going." Blaise exclaimed dramatically as he pushed his chair back. He pulled his coat on and tied his scarf around his neck.

"Really." Draco asked in disappointment and a little relief. The man knew too much about him to be in Potter's presence. There were things he didn't want the Gryffindor to know about his past ever.

"Yes, my mother is expecting me. I'll come visit you later." Blaise leaned down and kissed Draco on the head. Then speed walked away as fast as he could. What they didn't know is he was meeting the waitress by the back door.

Harry glared at the Italian man as he retreated. Malfoy started to giggle at the playful action which was very out of character. "I think you've had too much wine." He commented just noticing the red flush on the blondes cheeks.

"Or not enough." Draco exclaimed with a light tone as he topped off his glass emptying the bottle. Taking a light sip he glanced at the desert menu. "I don't know what to choose between two deserts. "

"How about you order them and I'll have the one you like the least." Harry suggested since he didn't know what to chose either. Malfoy nodded in agreement with the plan.

With the third wheel gone the mood of the table had changed. This was starting to feel more like a date than dinner with friends. With the romantic candle light and the string cortex playing in the back ground. Harry tried to ignore it as much as possible.

When the chocolate bourbon cheese cake and the blueberry pie came they each took a fork and ate off both plates.

^.0.^

Harry walked Malfoy back to the shop for the blonde's own safety. The earlier comment of too much wine had been correct, at the amount of swaying and zigzagging the blonde was doing. Harry was worried he might stumble out in front of car if he didn't hearded him down the side walk.

Malfoy was also unfamiliar with the muggle world. Harry felt like he had to make sure he made it back into the alley ok at least. With Lucius as a father he doubted he would allow his son to learn a lot about muggle culture. At Hogwarts none of the Slytherin's took Muggle Studies unless they were forced to. Harry wasn't even sure if Malfoy knew what a gun was.

To get back to Diagon Alley they had to go back through the Leaky Cauldron. Since it was Friday it was busy and full with people. Since they were both covered up no one paid them any attention luckily. Malfoy leaned his head on his shoulder when Harry stopped to tapped the bricks.

He herded the Slytherin into the alley. Since it was so late there was hardly anyone out walking around. There was only a few lamps lighting the way since most of the shops were closed. It was a comfortable silence as they walked.

Malfoy tripped on one of the cobble stones that was higher than the rest. Harry had to catch the blonde by his elbow before he landed on his face. Instead of getting angry like Draco usually would he started to giggle in amusement.

"Let's go." Harry slung a arm about his waist to support the wasted blonde. He had seen the Slytherin drink fire whiskey before but it didn't seem to have the same effect as the wine. It made him wispy and giggly. Next time Harry would have to monitor Malfoy's intake so he didn't end up practically carrying him home again.

When the shop came into sight the window was dark. "I think it's all locked up for the night. Do you have a way to get inside?" Harry inquired because if he didn't, Malfoy would have to come home with him.

Draco nodded and tried to stand up straight. He started digging into his coat pocket. Retrieving the ring of keys George had supplied him with triumphantly.

When they got closer to the shop they found someone waiting for them on the steps.

"Taylor, what the hell are you doing here?" Harry asked with his hands on his hips. He didn't like that the other auror was sniffing around Malfoy.

"I came to see Draco." Derek shrugged as he stood up.

They started to bicker. Draco pushed past them so that he could get to the door. He tried to fit the key into the lock but his vision was swimming a little bit from the wine so he kept missing. He ignored the two auror partners who were glaring at each other and snipping with too loud voices. His head was starting to hurt and he didn't feel like listening to their fighting.

"Both of you, go home." Draco said once he had finally managed to get the door open. "I'm going to sleep." He ducked inside leaving them both out standing on the curb. 

^.0.^

After five days with being partnered together Harry was at his wits end. They didn't work as a team at all. He tried to grin and bare it as well as he could.

They were filling out paper work when Taylor started it make comments about Malfoy. It was fine at first when he was talking about how he admired him. As soon as a degrading sentence had come out of Taylor's mouth though Harry found his fist flying.

Taylor retaliated with a punch of his own that Harry managed to dodge it. He was hit in the face by the other punch that followed. Knocking his glasses off his face.

A desk flipped over as Taylor was knocked back into it. Forms went flying in every direction. Pushing himself off the upturned furniture Harry launched himself at his partner. With the momentum they both crashed to the ground. They both kicked and punched at each other.

The loud noises called attention of other people. On duty aurors stormed towards the training area. "Harry what are you doing?" Ron called as he ran into the room. He tried to pry his best friend back away.

Harry allowed himself to be pulled back. Taylor had got the message he thought. They were both in equally in bad shape.

"What the hell is going on?!" head auror Robards demanded as he walked into the room. He eye's narrowed in on the two bloody forms. "Brawling." Robards sneered out crossing his arms. "This isn't a sparring match. You are both on a week suspension for your misconduct." He yelled in infuriation. "Out of my sight."

Scrambling off the floor Harry stomped out of the room. He could hear Ron following in his wake.

"I know you have never gotten along with Taylor but, what caused all that?" Ron asked curiously as he fell in step.

His fists clenched at the question. Harry just felt like he needed to get out of the ministry.

**^.0.^**

It was late in the evening when Potter showed up at the shop. "I was wondering when you were going to show up today." Draco commented as he finished cleaning up his work space for the evening without turning around.

"You could say that."

"What the hell happened to you?" Draco gasped as soon as he turned around and caught sight of him. Potter had a black eye and a split lip. Looking at his hands he could see that he had bloody knuckles.

"Got into a fight." Harry shrugged as he walked over to the work bench with a slight limp.

"What are they actually letting you perform real cases now?" Draco called back as he rushed to retrieve the first aid kit. Potter shook his head at the question. "If it wasn't with a criminal, who was it?" Draco asked curiously. Propped on the edge of the table he examined the head wound.

"Taylor." Harry growled and clenched his teeth.

"Derek." Draco stopped dabbing a wound in surprise and looked down at Potter with a raised eyebrow.

Harry bristled at the fact that Malfoy referred to Taylor by his first name like they were familiar with each other. "Don't use his name."

"I thought he was your new partner?" Draco exclaimed confused. Partners were supposed to watch each others backs not beat the shit out of each other. "What brought this on?"

Harry stared down at the top of Malfoy's head as he was bandaging his hands. "You." He admitted.

"What? How is this my fault?" Draco leaned back indignantly. He'd only ever met the man once and he didn't count that time in front of the shop. If Potter wasn't getting along with his new partner it wasn't his fault. Draco had nothing to do with this throw down that happened.

"You want to know what he was saying about you?" Harry asked, leaning forward in his chair. He leaned over and whispered it into the blonde's ear.

"What?" Draco snapped with a scowl on his face. He had the urge himself to go curse the bastard himself. "You know what I'll do?"

"What?" Harry asked.

"I'll sick George on him." Draco exclaimed. It was the worst position to be on the wrong side of George Weasley. He ran a joke shop for gods sakes. Made a living out of assisting people on playing pranks on other people.

"I look forward to seeing the results." Harry truly was.

^.0.^

**...TBC**

 


	8. Original Nemesis

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it took me so long to get this up. I promised myself I wouldn't work on any of my other stories until I finished Bird In A Cage. I had thought I posted this chapter a long time ago. Been having some trouble concentrating recently. Which is why it took so long to get this up. The past few days it suddenly ended up growing really long though.
> 
> Been busy with home renovations. My house is in constant chaos. Went to Disney World and had a job interview. We'll see where I am in life by the time I post the next chapter.

 

o0o

"Isn't there somewhere you have to be?" Draco asked as he worked on a batch of Calamity Lotion. Usually Potter was only around for an hour or two at the most. Today it seemed he had been here for hours on end.

"No." Harry replied as he tipped the chair backwards. "I was suspended remember."

"So now you can bother me all through the day?" Draco asked sarcastically.

"Precisely." Harry exclaimed with a bright smile. He had nothing better to do because everyone else was at work. Not wanting to spend the week stuck in Grimmauld Place, Harry had decided he needed to go somewhere. Being a part owner of the shop meant he could walk in here whenever he wanted without worrying about being thrown out. Spending his time bothering Malfoy didn't hurt either.

Draco tried to ignore the piercing stare of the green eyes. Peaking over the rim of the cauldron. He checked if it was the right colour. "How long are you suspended again?" Draco asked since it was hard for him to concentrate being observed constantly.

"A week." Harry replied to the question disgruntled about the length of time. He thought it was overkill for the fight Taylor and him had got into. They had been requesting a transfer for weeks now. The fight had been inevitable. It would have been more productive if they just split them up. Forcing two clashing personalities to work together made no sense to him.

"Why don't you be useful then and cut up some ingredients." Draco recommended placing a cutting board and a knife in front of Potter. Along with a few ingredients.

Harry let the chair drop back to the floor. Leaning forward he peered disgustingly down at the slimy slugs. "Do I have to?" Truthfully Harry didn't want to even touch them. With one sharp look from the Slytherin he reluctantly took the knife in hand and began to slice the ingredients as it described in the book.

"No, stop. You need to be cutting them into slivers. Not chunks." Draco criticized when he came to check on his progress.

"I am." The pieces looked thin enough to him. Harry felt like he was in potion class again. "You're as bad as Snape."

"Don't let him hear you say that. Budge over." Draco snatched the knife from the auror in training hands. Placing a fresh slug in front of him he confidently sliced the gastropod into the thin slivers that the potion desired. "I thought you had actually become good at this stuff." Draco commented as he showed him how it was done.

"Not exactly." Harry rubbed his neck bashfully. "I kind of cheated."

"How can you cheat at potions?" Draco asked confused by his wording. All you had to do was read instructions that were right in front of you. It wasn't like you had to brew the potion from memory.

"I had a copy of an old potion text book, that someone had made notes in the margins about a better way to brew each potion." Harry explained what he actually meant. "And that someone may have been a teenage Snape."

"Did Severus know you had it?" Draco inquired with interest.

"Well he did after the incident, in the bathroom." Harry peaked at Malfoy nervously. They tried to avoid talking about the war. Their relationship in school had always been rocky.

"Oh that." Draco shifted uncomfortably. He resisted the sudden urge to scratch at his chest. At the scars under his robes.

"The dark spell I used, kind of came from the book." Harry clarified why it was connected to the event that followed. "Boy did I get an earful from Snape for that."

"Do you still have it?" Draco inquired, intrigued by the techniques it may hold.

"No." Harry shook his head. "After that I was so freaked out I hid it in the room of hidden things. And you know what happened to that." He couldn't believe that he had broached two very delicate situations in such a little time.

"That's too bad." Draco sighed, the improved brewing techniques actually sounded useful. He could always ask Severus but he was a hard man to talk to.

"It was a long time ago. We aren't kids anymore." Harry wasn't sure how they found themselves here together. They had a really complicated past together. It all just seemed so long ago. Watching Malfoy tuck a lose piece of soft blond hair behind his ear.

They weren't the same people any more. Malfoy no longer wore his hair slicked back on his head. So much had happened since that year he competed in the Tri-Wizard Tournament. Harry could say that that was the catalyst where everything got serious. It made him realize how real the threat was.

The reminiscing mood was broken when George walked into the room. "What are you smirking about?" Harry asked noticing the mischievous look on the red heads freckled face.

"The plan has been put into action." George stated like it was a secret that no one else should know about. It took both of them a few seconds to figure out what the jokester was talking about.

"Oh." Draco exclaimed. He had completely forgotten he had asked George to help him get revenge on the young auror.

"What did you do to Taylor?" Harry asked eagerly. Sitting up straight in his seat with attentiveness.

"I don't want to know." Draco covered his ears. If he has no knowledge of the details he could better feign innocence later.

"Fine." George shrugged then he leaned over to whisper it into Harry's ear so the blonde couldn't hear. "-And that's just the beginning."

"Oh that's perfect." Harry exclaimed with a laugh. It almost made being suspended bearable.

"George." Verity showed up in the doorway tapping her foot. "I need your help down in the shop."

"I'm coming." George sprung to help his own shop assistant. He followed instead of led with her. Harry and Draco shared a look of exasperation. After only working at the joke shop a week Draco had come to the conclusion that George had a crush on Verity.

"You would think he's the worker and her the boss." Harry muttered with amusement.

"George should just make a move already." Draco commented with exasperation, turning back to his work. It was tiring just watching them dance around each other.

"You know that George would say the same thing about us?" Harry alleged to what George had been talking to him about in private.

Malfoy raised a supercilious eyebrow at him. "Well he's delusional isn't he." He shrugged the comment off.

o0o

For the rest of the week Harry showed up at the shop and helped Malfoy brew some potions. He wasn't sure if he wasn't more of a hindrance than a help though. The Slytherin spent more of his time correcting Harry's actions than concentrating on the actually brewing.

George continued to sneak away to put the rest of his elaborate plan into action. Draco had heard his boss mumbling to himself as he scratched in a notebook. Giving the jokester free feign to prank someone hadn't been the best idea in hindsight.

It wasn't until Thursday that the Aussie had enough. Taylor stormed into the store sporting bright green hair. Draco tried not to laugh at how ridiculous the junior auror looked. Judging by how Derek had left the house with his hair still that colour he guessed that he couldn't get it to change back.

"I know you have two have something to do with this." Taylor pointed to his head. All week long there had been odd occurrences happening. Most he could count as a fluke. It wasn't until he exited his shower sporting green hair had Derek made the connection that Potter owned part of a joke shop.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Harry tried to keep a straight face. He was successful until he heard Malfoy mumble "Oh, that's unfortunate" behind him. Then he burst out laughing. Just as Harry was beginning to calm down again he glanced at Taylor and began to chuckle again.

"You need to stop this." Taylor paced back and forth. He couldn't stand not knowing when something would happen to him next. "Please."

It was the please that did it. Draco was afraid to ask what had actually been done to the Australian to reduce him to pleading. "George I guess you should stop." Draco called off his boss's vendetta, knowing he was standing just outside the door listening. "Derek's had enough punishment."

"I hope he's learned his lesson." George stepped through the curtain and leaned on the door frame with superiority.

"This should get your hair back to normal." Draco handed over a bottle to Derek. Who snatching the bottle and stormed from the shop. Slamming the shop door loudly.

Potter and George collapsed against each other laughing loudly. Rolling his eyes, Draco sighed in exasperation. "I'm surrounded by idiots."

o0o

The week of suspension passed quickly. Before Harry knew it he was back to training.

Surprisingly Harry missed being able to sit around the shop all day. He found himself staring into space a lot while on patrol. They had to gather 100 hours of active duty before they could take the final exam.

Harry and Taylor walked two feet apart at all times. If they weren't dressed the same people would assume they weren't together. They had to check out a noise complaint. Not all auror work involved chasing dark wizards down. Hopefully once Harry was fully trained he would actually be able to do something interesting.

Harry caught himself checking his watch for the tenth time.

"Is there somewhere you have to be?" Taylor snapped annoyed that Potter was so distracted.

"No." Harry mumbled disgruntled at being called out on his unprofessional continued monitoring Knockturn Ally in silence. It was better if they both just didn't talk. As soon as is watch hit 4 o'clock Harry was speed walking back towards Diagon Ally.

"Where are you rushing off to." Taylor inquired with a knowing tone.

Stopping in his tracks Harry narrowed his eyes. "None of your business."

"Tell Draco I say hi." Derek called after him.

Harry stalked away shooting his middle finger over his shoulder. Childish, he knows, but Taylor was an ass.

When he turned the corner and saw Weasley Wizard Wheeze come into view, Harry felt himself relax. The bell jingled loudly when he entered. Since it was the evening it was full of children. There was a wall with parents leaning against it waiting for their children to pick something so they could leave. There were also some excited adults scattered through out the aisles.

There was a short line up at the till. It always surprised Harry how Verity can multitask by checking out a customer while reading a magazine and chewing gum all at the same time. "You're here late." Verity exclaimed when she saw him. "Draco's still brewing as far as I know."

"I'll just go right up then." Harry pointed towards the stairs and made his way through the crowded shop.

"Like I can stop you." Verity mumbled as she went back to her magazine.

...

When Harry entered the work room it smelled of cinnamon, coffee, and sweat. It was a combination he had only smelt once before. In sixth year potion class. If he could recall when they were being taught about the Amortia potion.

Malfoy's face glowed in the bright pink light that the cauldron was giving off. "What the hell is this shit?" Harry asked curiously as he peaked over the rim. The liquid almost sparkled as the blonde stirred it.

"It's Twilight Moon Beams, part of the Wonder Witch line designed for teenage witches." Draco replied like an infomercial as he continued to stir. Luckily he was almost finished and all Draco had to do was bottle it. The constant sweet scent was giving him a headache.

"A love potion." Harry realized why he was smelling that memorable scent again. It was what he was attracted to. "I don't know how George gets away with selling these potions. Aren't love potions illegal?" Debating looking over the brewing rules again.

"Ah, these aren't love potions but infatuation. There's a big difference apparently." Draco put air quotes around the word 'infatuation'. "It's just temporary and will fade easily."

"Isn't Infatuation just another name for short term love?" Harry asked confused about the terminology.

"It isn't strong enough to make the recipient do anything they don't already want to do." Draco tried to clarify how the potion actually operated. "It may just make them notice the user or give them that final push to actually act on pre-existing feelings. The potion doesn't create feelings, which is what makes it legal."

"Thanks for clearing that up." Harry rolled his eyes at the ambiguous description. He still didn't see the difference between love and infatuation. "Is it based on the Amortia potion isn't it?"

"Yes, that's basically what it is, with a few of the stronger ingredients missing." Draco replied with a shrug. "Why?"

"I was just wondering because I recognize the smell from sixth year." It reminded Harry of Rolmilda Vane's attempts to slip love potions to him in Hogwarts. The small cauldron in potion class made people smell what they were attracted to when they stood over it. This cauldron was much bigger so you just had to be in the room and you were over powered by the scent. There was no way it wasn't effecting Malfoy the same as him. "I'm curious, what do you smell?" Harry asked enquiringly without thinking.

"That is a little personal don't you think?" Draco replied trying to avoid answering. It revealed a lot about a person.

"I'll tell you mine if you tell me yours." Harry tried to entice the Slytherin. Deciding to just go ahead. "It smells of cinnamon, coffee, and sweat."

"So basically you smell a flavored latte and body odor." Draco raised a conceited platinum eyebrow.

"Never thought about it that way." Harry smiled to himself as he thought about the combination. "Your turn. I told you mine."

Potter starred at Draco intently. "Fine, Chocolate, Citrus, and earl grey tea."

"That really isn't that surprising." Harry thought thinking about the Slytherin's cravings. It sounded like the blonde's tea break.

"Is that the only reason you're here again, twice in one day." Draco inquired since Potter had already been by for some time that morning.

"I'm going to be gone a couple days." Harry revealed the reason for his second visit. They had only been informed about it in class that morning. He hadn't been sure if he would get another chance to come here before they had to leave.

"And I care?" Draco said sarcastically.

"I'm just informing you so you don't freak out when I don't show up for several consecutive days." Harry shrugged at his reasoning. Just seemed important to inform the blonde about it.

"I think I'll enjoy a couple days of peace and quiet without you hovering over my shoulder." Draco replied back with a smirk.

"Oh I'm hurt." Harry dramatically grabbed his chest.

"Where are you going anyway?" Draco asked curiously. Extinguishing the flame under the cauldron.

"Auror training camp." Harry replied flatly. "Every couple months we get dragged out to the middle of nowhere. Are forced to sleep in tents. Then perform different drills and obstacle courses.

"Sounds fun." Draco said with sarcasm. Truthfully it seemed a dreadful way to spend your time.

"I'm just lucky that Moody isn't the one running it –may he rest in peace." Harry added on because he knew it wasn't good to speak ill of the dead. Malfoy shivered when he mentioned the deceased aurors name. Harry suspected why. "You know, Moody wasn't actually the one who transfigured you into a ferret."

"Yes I know, technically it was Barty Crouch Jr." Draco shot over his shoulder. "But its Moody's laughing face I see in my mind when I think about it."

"Being turned into a ferret for a couple minutes isn't a traumatizing experience." Harry exclaimed with a roll of his eyes. Thinking the Slytherin was blowing the event out of proportion.

"I'll have you know that I had bruises the size of bluggers from that for weeks." Draco snapped at having his past mocked.

Harry smile froze at the new information. "I'm sorry. I didn't know you were actually injured."

"Oh, you and Weasley were laughing your heads off. You enjoyed my pain." Draco didn't believe that Potter was sorry for his actions at the time. He had no delusions about how they used to feel about him. "You know Barty Jr only did that to earn your trust." He revealed his own suspicions.

"It's more than likely." Harry nodded somberly in agreement. It had happened so long ago. He still remembered his feelings of glee of seeing Draco Malfoy get what he deserved.

"Is Taylor going to be going too?" Draco inquired interestingly. It seemed like a disaster to have those two on a trip together.

"Yeah, and we're going to have to share a tent together." Harry replied petulantly with a pout forming. Even though they were still auror partners they just tried to ignore each other. It would be hard with the teamwork exercises.

"Are you going to try and make up with him?" Draco asked curiously. After the week before, the two partners seemed to have a worse relationship than ever. George's pranks had made them feel better but it had worsened the animosity between the two. The week long suspension didn't help to break the tension at all.

"I'll have to, won't I?" Potter sounded weary about it. "It wouldn't look good otherwise." Harry sighed with reluctance, knowing he was the one who had to apologize because he had been in the wrong. Taylor was an ass, though he hadn't done anything bad enough to warrant having George sicked on him. They would have to come to an agreement though. Maybe this week would be just what they needed.

"I'm sure that you two can find something to bond over. A common interest maybe." Draco suggested it was something the two should try. If Potter and him had found a way to get along after years of struggle. Anyone can get along if they could.

Harry strongly doubted that. The only common interest they had was their fascination with Draco Malfoy. Harry felt his wand vibrate in his trench coat pocket. He had set the alarm so he would have enough time to meet up with Taylor. So they wouldn't have to spend more time together than they had to.

"Have a delightful week." Draco jested as he started bottling his last potion for that day.

"It's just a lot of yelling and mud." Harry scrunched up his nose up with disgust. He really wasn't looking forward to the week ahead of him.

"Yes, while you're forced to rough it, I'll be here in the comforts of home, in front of the warm fire drinking tea." Draco exclaimed to rub in the situation. It was what he was planning on doing that evening.

"I hate you." Harry said not completely serious. He wasn't sure when that had happened.

"Love you too." Draco dramatically blew Potter a kiss as he pushed off the wall and walked towards the exit.

o0o

Harry zipped up his duffle bag. He only packed the essentials like his tooth brush and clean underwear. Other than that he included only his worse clothes, since Harry knew whatever he brought with him would not be salvageable when he returned. Clothes he had gotten from Dudley had emerged from the depths of his closet. Harry wasn't even sure why he still kept them. It was time to update his wardrobe.

Making his way down the stairs and into the drawing room. "Don't burn down the house while I'm gone." Harry said as he walked past the house elf on his way to the mantle.

"Kreacher would never." The old house elf replied offended his master would ever imply that he would let anything happen to the Black family house.

Grabbing a handful of floo powder out of a coffee mug that had the handle fall off. Harry threw the powder at his feet announcing "Ministry of Magic" clearly. The green flames engulfed him and he stepped out into the packed atrium.

Looking around he saw a large group grey coats. Harry made his way through the crowds. Since it was early in the morning the atrium was packed.

"You're late Potter." Robards barked as he spotted him. Harry looked at his watch with a frown. He was actually half an hour early. They still had half the class to wait on.

"Anyone who is late will be left behind. The port key is scheduled to go off at 10 am on the dot." Robard's announced to the group in front of him even though they were all on time. There was a wide variety of different pieces of rubbish available.

"Hey mate." Ron clamped down on Harry's shoulder in sympathy.

"If I was actually late, like he said, you would all be gone." Harry said petulantly. Looking around to see if they were missing anyone else. Harry was glad to see that Taylor hadn't arrived yet. Maybe he would be lucky and his partner would miss the portkey.

Just as Harry was thinking his auror partner wasn't going to show up at all the Aussie breezed in. Maybe this trip was their chance to work things out. Robards refused to reassign them new partners because everyone else was getting along just fine. His validation was that he didn't want to sever the team dynamics that had already started to form.

They leaned down and selected a bike tire. A few other people arranged themselves around the outside of the muggle object. They could hear Robards counting down from ten. As soon as he reached one they could feel the familiar tug behind their naval.

When they arrived at the training camp it was pouring rain. His hair started to plaster to his forehead under the heavy rain drops. "Perfect." Harry exclaimed as his glasses started to fog. He could already tell how the next couple days were going to go.

The closest he had ever come to camping was when they were staying in the Forest of Dean. As a child the Dursley's had never even sent him to summer camp and they were too good for tents. This is what he imagined camping must have been like except with a lot less mud.

They were led to a row of rickety looking tents that didn't look like it could hold two people let alone twenty. Each received their tent number based on their year of training. They split them up based on gender after that. When he pushed the tent flap back Harry was greeted to ten bunk beds. Wizard space at work. It wasn't the most luxurious accommodations though.

"I want the bottom bunk." Ron called as they got to their assigned bed. Dashing over he threw his stuff against the thin mattress so there could be no doubt about his place.

Harry sighed when he realized why his friend had jumped to claim the bottom. There was a leak in the canvas right above where his head should be situated. Climbing up the ladder he had to patch the rip before he could roll out his sleeping bag.

The ministry didn't see the point of buying new tents while the old ones worked just fine. Even if there were some rips and tatters. Harry was pretty sure they were older than he was. His father probably stayed in the same model when he went through the program.

Harry's teeth chattered as he tried to get comfortable in his bunk. The tent was very drafty. He wasn't sure why they couldn't wait for summer to have this trip. Wishing he was back in his own bed. He fell asleep to the image of Malfoy drinking tea in front of a warm fire. Wishing he could join him.

.0.

It was still drizzling when they woke up. They ate breakfast on picnic tables under some tarps. Harry stirred his spoon through the porridge they were provided with. He was just contemplating if he should risk consuming it or starve when Robards stood up from his seat. "Everyone, find your partners."

Harry reluctantly looked for Taylor in the crowd. They made eye contact but the dirty blonde made no move. Rolling his eyes he made his way over. They stood a few feet apart with their backs to each other.

"Make your way to the obstacle course." The instructor yelled. Everyone scrambled to comply. In rotations of four pairs of partners they made their way through the course. By the time auror trainees were at the end of the course they were covered head to toe in mud.

Harry and Dereck were in the last cycle of recruits. Lining up beside each other they waited for the whistle. As soon as it was blown they were off. They vaulted over the first few hurdles racing each other. Instead of working together they were trying to beat their partner to the punch.

Soon they came up to a large wooden wall that they had to find a way to get over. There wasn't a rope to climb though. Other partners helped each other over the wall. Both Harry and Taylor struggled over themselves taking twice the time as other teams.

As they were running to the next obstacle Taylor put his leg out and tripped Harry making him fall in the mud. "You did that on purpose." Harry accused as he tried to climb back to his feet.

"I don't know what you're talking about." Taylor pretended it was a mistake.

"Stop bickering over there!" The instructor yelled. They shut their mouths and listened to instructions.

It continued that way for the rest of the day.

These exercises were supposed to encourage team work which is why they were failing so spectacularly. They had to get through the obstacle courses together. Their teamwork was so bad that they were second to last every time. After this happening repeatedly they had enough.

After failing again twice in a row the next day Harry decided to off the olive branch. "Truce." Holding his mud covered hand out.

"Alright." Derek agreed as he finished puling some sticks out of his hair. They shook hands then stood to attempt the course again.

After that, instead of hindering each other they helped their partner out. Once they actually started to concentrate on the task at hand, they started to win. After coming in first place a couple times it made them feel good. It made them realize that the work was what was more important than their disagreements.

o0o

It had been nice and quite the past couple days. Draco hated to admit it but he actually detested the silence. After only a short time he already missed Potter. He had gotten used to the Gryffindor hovering over his shoulder.

Though it did take him less time to finish brewing for the day because his full attention was on the potion.

Instead of having to work through his break time, Draco decided to have his tea in the apartment for once. There was a lot of extra time that was usually filled with inane chatter. Draco felt off put that there was no one there to talk to as he worked. He had gotten used to their weird routine. At any time of the day Potter would drop in and just start yammering away.

"No Potter lately I see." Severus commented from his frame. Even though he was no longer in the work room the professor still always knew when Potter had dropped by. It was strange for the boy not to show up at all. "Did you frighten the Gryffindor off?"

"No." Draco snapped sullenly as he slumped in his blue high back chair. His godfather gave him a look like he didn't believe him. With exasperation Draco placed his cup and saucer on the side table. Severus was turning him off his tea. Standing up he stalked back down to the workroom.

Draco hummed to himself as he got back to work. He always took breaks when a potion had to simmer for a long time. Stirring the cauldron with confidence in his actions. Leaning over the book Draco checked to make sure the colour was right. Grabbing the next ingredient he added it to the cauldron.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly until Draco heard a voice behind him. It wasn't one he wanted to hear. "So this is where you got to."

Draco froze when he heard a familiar voice behind him. Whipping around he tensed when he met the smirking facade of Badrik. The man was pushing the curtain aside and stepping into his workshop. "You shouldn't be back here." Draco warned him nervously backing up.

"I heard through the grape vine that you had been working here so I decided to pay you a visit." Badrik said as if they were old friends. His eyes examined the messy room around them.

Shifting uncomfortably on his feet, Draco realized he'd left his wand by the ingredients cabinet. He tried to make his way over without being noticed but Badrik stepped into his path cutting him off. He jumped back from the man who was approaching him, too soon his back hit the wall. Draco felt trapped as the man crowded in on his personal space.

Caging the blonde in with his arms. "Are you sure you don't want to come work for me?" Badrik asked imploringly.

The grey eyes widened at having the suggestion repeated to him again. Draco wasn't in as desperate a situation as before. The offer had a lot less appeal than the first time."Geor…!" Draco tried yelling for help but a hand clamped over his mouth.

Luckily George was performing his usual rounds. As soon as he walked into the room he noticed an unfamiliar man pinning a struggling Malfoy against the wall. Immediately his wand was in his hand. "I don't know what you think you're doing but you need to leave my property. Now!"

The man looked over his shoulder at him with a displeased look at being disturbed. It was only when George could see the face that he realized who this man was. The owner of The Sphinxes' Puzzle was trying to collect again.

When Badrik didn't move away from Malfoy immediately George placed his wand tip at the back of the man's neck. "Leave now. Or you'll regret it." George threatened with conviction in his voice. He'd been through a war, he had no hesitation about cursing this man.

Badrik released Malfoy who gasped for air and slumped down the wall. The man fixed his velvet robes and calmly walked towards the curtain with George's wand following his every move. Placing his body in front of Malfoy blocking him from the man's sight. "I better not see you near my shop again."

Badrik scoffed at the weak threat. He had a lot scarier enemies than a man who made his living running a joke shop. "I'm not done with you." Badrik spat at the Malfoy heir before marching out. The curtain flapping shut behind him.

As soon as it was just the two of them George relaxed his wand arm. Turning around he dropped to his knees in front of Malfoy's limp form. "Are you ok?" He ran an his hands over the blonde's form with worry. Checking for any injuries

Draco shook his head because he didn't think he was. He thought that part of his life was over. He hadn't expected the man who wanted to place him in prostitution to walk back into his life. "George, he knows where I am now."

"I know." George nodded since he'd seen the whole thing. His mind was quickly trying to think of ways to up security. "I won't let him take you though. Ok?" Malfoy nodded as he climbed back to his feet shakily. His hands shook as he fiddled with the ingredients he had arranged on the table.

"I think you should take the rest of the day off." George placed his own hand on the slender ones to stop the shaking. He could see that the altercation had severely shaken the blonde. Putting his hand on Malfoy's lower back and attempted to lead him towards the curtain.

"You're right." Draco nodded stepping back from the work table with acceptance. He put the cauldron under a status charm so he could come back to it later.

As soon as Draco was safely up in the apartment, George rushed to his office. He needed advice on what he should do in a situation like this. Both Harry and Ron were on the Auror retreat so his first choices were out of reach.

It was probably a good thing that Harry wasn't available right now. If he saw Malfoy in this state he would more than likely kill someone. The savour of the wizarding world would end up in Azkaban for murdering the man.

Kingsley was the first one who came to mind. After a short fire call when the minister who told him that he couldn't do anything till the man had actually broken the law.

o0o

Draco was driving himself spare thinking about it.

George threatened to shove a calming drought down his throat if he didn't calm down. He gave him the next day off because he was in no condition to work with volatile potion ingredients. It was very true but he needed something to do.

Now Draco wished he'd let Mrs. Weasley teach him to knit just so he would have something to do with his hands.

"What are you still doing up?" Snape inquired curiously. As a portrait he technically didn't have to sleep anymore to be able to function. Most portraits still did because they had nothing better to do. Checking the time he realized it was around four in the morning.

Draco shrugged as he sipped at his cold tea. He had been sitting in the living room for hours now.

"You haven't been sleeping well lately." Snape commented with narrowed eyes. It was a mystery what had caused this occurrence. He hoped it wasn't just because of Potter's absence. "The bags under your eyes are telling."

"Fine, I concede to your powers of observation." Draco sighed tiredly. He'd been sitting here for so long since he couldn't relax enough to fall asleep. Every shadow or noise had made him sit up in bed the other night. His heart pounding with adrenaline.

"Why don't you take a sleeping draft?" Snape suggested with worry. The boy seemed to be falling apart at the seems.

Draco shook his head adamantly. Taking the potion would leave him vulnerable to an attack.

o0o

Potter stalked into the shop well after closing time. It had already when too late the evening before when he arrived back from Auror Training Camp to drop in. It had been so busy today that Harry hadn't had a chance until late at night to visit.

Truthfully he was surprised to see Malfoy still up. He was sitting on the stairs with a bottle in his hands.

"You look like shit." Draco commented when he noticed his presence. "Something wrong?"

"Just a really long day." Harry took a deep sigh.

"Fire Whiskey?" Draco offered a drink and held up a bottle for him to see.

"Bad day too?" Harry asked only now noticing the slight slur to Malfoy's words. He observed the bags under the blonde's eyes.

"Yeah you could say that." Draco sigh a response. Truthfully he hadn't slept since Badrik had paid the shop a visit. He took another swig right out of the bottle.

"You seem stressed." Harry exclaimed looking at Malfoy's tense form. "Here, have some chocolate."

Ever since he had given Malfoy the box of chocolates Harry had taken to carrying chocolate in his pockets. Offering the sweet to the blonde anytime he was in a bad mood. He forgot to put a temperature charm on the pocket after the first time he did it and the chocolate melted. He forgot that chocolate could melt from body heat.

It was so bad Harry actually had to take his auror training robes to the dry cleaners. Harry had blushed when he picked up his robes and the dry cleaner commented how 'Too much chocolate like that would rot his teeth.' He wanted to snap how the man should be telling Malfoy that. Though the Slytherin's teeth seemed perfect despite his chocolate addiction.

"Why did you chose the stairs to drink fire whiskey?" Harry asked imploringly. It was strange since the blond had a perfectly good apartment at his disposal.

"Snape chased me out of the apartment with his nagging." Draco shrugged at the question. The potion master hadn't let up with his insistence that he take the sleeping draft.

"Fair enough." Harry flopped onto the stairs beside the blonde. "Hand it over." He took a long drag of alcohol to chase his bad day away. Harry had never had a strong resistance against alcohol so it wasn't long before he was slurring his words too. "You're my nemesis."

"I thought that was Voldemort?" Draco responded in confusion. He felt the tension in his shoulders loosen. Potter had a strange way of making him feel better. Just for a little bit he wanted to pretend that everything was ok.

"You're my original nemesis. From the moment I entered the wizarding world you've been there to taunt me every step of the way." Harry garbled but the outline of the story was clear. "Couldn't have done it without you." Somehow he skipped ahead to the end of the war.

"Do what?" Draco asked confused. It felt like they were playing fill in the blanks because they were both so wasted they were having half a conversation. Or two different ones entirely.

"You know you were the first wizard my age I ever met?" Harry asked randomly.

"Really?" Draco exclaimed turning to look into the green eyes in surprise. He remembered seeing a scrawny boy while he was being fitted by his robes. He had a strong urge to talk to him. "Why didn't you shake my hand then?" Draco asked inquisitively.

"You reminded me of my cousin, even though he's a whale." Harry exclaimed with a giggle as he used his arms to suggest the large size. Giggling when he imagined Draco overweight. He was sure that Dudley weighed at least twice as much as Malfoy did at that point if not more.

"Wow. I reminded you of your over weight cousin. How flattering." Draco exclaimed sourly as he took another sip of fire whiskey.

"I'll shake your hand now though." Harry held out his hand almost hitting the blonde in the face in his enthusiasm.

"Watch it." Draco snapped as he ducked out of the way. Noticing that Potter was still holding his hand out, he rolled his eyes. Taking the appendage in his, they shook hands for longer than was strictly necessary. "We're both so fucked up." Draco laughed before taking another sip of fire whiskey.

"Yes, we are." Harry looked at Malfoy like he'd never seen him before. The first time they met was when they were getting fitted for their Hogwarts robes. Malfoy had always played an important role in his life ever since he was eleven years old.

He just realized that Malfoy was good looking. No Draco was beautiful. Sure his chin was a little pointy but it suited him. His pale hair and skin made him almost glow in the moonlight that was streaming through the windows into the dark shop.

After this realization Harry found it hard to not be physically aware of the Slytherin. He had tried not to think about their shared kiss at Christmas. The next time they saw each other it was like it had never happened. The memory of how soft the blonde's lips were came back to the forefront of his mind.

"Potter. Potter!" Draco snapped his fingers in front of Potter's face. Who blinked his green eyes as he came back from where ever he had drifted off to. "You spaced out on me"

The grey eyes were unfocused as Harry stared into them. Leaning in he kissed him. Malfoy tasted of fire whiskey, chocolate, and something else. Since Malfoy didn't push him away he grabbed the blonde hair and deepened the kiss. Nibbling at each others lips with little bites. When the blonde's mouth opened under his Harry pushed his tongue in.

Clutching at the auror robes, Draco pulled him closer to his body. It had been forever since he had done something like this. They pulled back needing some air. His lips trailed over Potter's jaw feeling the slight stubble against his skin. His hands started to wonder exploring Potter's body.

When Malfoy's hand moved from his thigh to his crotch Harry snapped back to reality. His eyes widened when Harry realized what he had just been doing. He pushed Malfoy a way from him. Making the blonde fall off the stair to the floor because he was too tipsy to catch himself.

"What the hell." Draco complained as he pushed himself off the shop floor.

"This never happened." Harry snapped as he scrambled to his feet. Quickly he stood up and stormed out of the shop. The bell jingled loudly when he left. As soon as he was on the street Harry apparated back to his Grimmauld place.

Hiding under the covers until he had to go to work on Monday.

… **TBC**

 


	9. Hungover

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter up. I feel like I say that every time I post. Been working five days a week lately, though the job should be finished before Christmas and then I'll be back to normal. It's been hard to get the ideas flowing because I've just been tired constantly.

**o0o0o**

It was early in the morning and the shop wouldn't be opened for at least another hour. There was a knock on the door before Verity could answer it George came rushing out of his office. "I'll get it." Unlocking the door, he saw a man with a large flat package. George signed for the parcel he had ordered. "Thank you." The delivery man floated the large box into the shop without a word, then left to continue his route.

"What'd you order?" Verity asked curiously from her position behind the counter. Usually, her boss only got potion ingredients on a regular basis. Or he got larger items that were shrunk down to a more manageable size. This package was at its full size, meaning it already had too many spells on it to risk casting anymore.

"I got another frame for Snape made," George answered while he cast wingardium leviosa on the box. Levitating it up the stairs to the second floor. After what had happened a few days ago he wanted to have more eyes in the shop. George decided to add another frame to the work room for Snape to occupy. Now the professor can watch Malfoy in both the apartment and the workroom.

George had also had a small frame delivered to his own apartment also. Installing a frame in his own bedroom, so that if anything happened in the middle of the night while George wasn't here Snape could come fetch him.

When George entered the work room he was surprised to see that the Slytherin wasn't already in there working. The blond was a true believer in the saying the early bird gets the worm. Checking the clock to see if George was earlier than he thought. No, it was definitely past nine in the morning.

Placing the box against the work table George opened it with a pocket knife. Sliding the frame out of the packaging to observe his order. There was a black unadorned frame surrounding a green background with potion-stool so that Snape would have somewhere to sit. It had been a rush order so it wasn't the most lavish frame or painting, but it will have to do.

After looking around, George noticed there was still an empty wall from when Draco had Snape hung there before. He knew that the Slytherin found his old potion masters commentary while he was brewing annoying and distracting, but he would just have to deal with it for now. Since the hooks were still in the wall, George just hung the empty frame in the same spot.

When George pushed the curtain aside to leave, his eyes immediately gravitated to the closed door to the apartment. Malfoy wasn't one to pop out for breakfast since he didn't like wondering Diagon Alley by himself if he didn't have to. He must still be in the apartment then. The Slytherin was usually an early riser so it was worrying to George that he wasn't in the work room yet.

Walking over George knocked on the apartment door. Hoping that the Slytherin was up and in hearing range. Listening for any movement on the other side in response to his knocking. Hearing no answer George took out his own copy of the key and swung the door open. Walking up the short flight of stairs to enter his old apartment. The kitchen and living room were empty so the only two places left where the bedroom and bathroom.

"Draco is still sleeping." Snape's cool voice informed him. The boy had not returned until very late the night before. The potion master wondered what had kept his ex-student out so late. Cursing his current inability to leave his frame in his head.

"More like hiding under his covers probably," George responded as he approached the portraits location. Ever since the surprise visit Malfoy had been acting jumpy and not himself. "I wanted to talk to you alone first anyway."

"What pray tell about?" Snape leaned forward in his chair with interest to hear what had actually been going on.

.0.

After finishing his conversation with Snape, George headed down the short hallway. When he entered the bedroom, Malfoy was lying face down on the bed with a pillow over his head. It appeared the Slytherin had heard him enter the apartment but had chosen to try and ignore the fact.

Stalking over George flopped down on the empty side of the mattress making the slender blond bounce. "Rise and shine." Receiving no response, he snatched the pillow away.

"Go away." The Slytherin groaned. Rolling so that his back was facing his boss. When that put him in a position to be facing the window. He squeezed his eyes shut in pain. Pulling the other pillow closer so that he could block the light.

"Come on. You can't hide under the covers for the rest of the day." George wrestled the second pillow away from the Slytherin's grip. Using it himself to prop his head on.

"It's too bright," Draco complained as the light rays hit his retinas. After climbing into bed late last night, he had forgotten to close the curtains. He pulled the covers up to block the light. Hiding from the sun.

There was something that was telling George that this was about more than just wanting to sulk in bed all day. Leaning closer to the blond he sniffed in his direction; Malfoy smelt strongly of fire whiskey. He wasn't sure if it was reassuring or worrying that the Slytherin was still in bed because he was suffering from a hangover. "Did you get drunk without me?" George asked with a slight pout. It was never good to drink alone.

"I'm sorry I didn't invite you to Potter and I's spontaneous drink fest," Draco answered, rolled his eyes as he sat up in bed. There was a slight rolling of his stomach at the movement.

"Oh, Harry was here?" George wiggled his eyebrows, which he received a pillow in the face for. George wasn't sure where the Slytherin was getting all these pillows from. He was sure there was only two in the bedroom originally.

"Yes, he was." Draco threw the covers off and attempted to climb out of bed. The room seemed to spin as he sat on the edge of the mattress. Waiting for it to stop before he stood to get dressed.

"How much did you drink last night?" George asked propping himself up on his arm, as the usual graceful Slytherin stumbled over to the clothing cabinet.

"Too much," Draco replied as he closed the drawer. He made his way behind the dressing screen. Not surprisingly he had fallen asleep in his clothes last night. Draco was surprised though that he had the sense of mind to actually take off his work robe before climbing into bed. Taking off his shirt Draco noticed a bruise on his elbow; remembering how Potter had pushed him. He was so glad that George couldn't actually see him or he would be prying out of him how he got the injury.

"Missy!" George called, he noticed what a bad state the Slytherin was in. The house elf apparated in front of him with a curtsy. Leaning down so he was closer to her height. "We need some strong coffee and a hangover potion." He had a feeling the blond wouldn't be able to keep anything down if he tried. Deciding to ask just in case. "Do you want anything to eat?"

The blond groaned loudly in response. Even the thought of eating anything turned his stomach. Pulling on a clean shirt and jeans, Draco felt a little better.

"That will be all for now. Bring it to the living room." George dismissed the house elf. With a wave of her wand, Missy was gone. She had great showmanship for a house elf.

Sniffing at his work cloak, Draco discovered it too carried a strong scent of alcohol. He must have spilled some on it. Deciding it was a lost cause he threw the maroon robe into the clothing hamper. Draco grabbed one of the plain black ones he had used some of his pay to buy. Every wizard required at least one plain black robe in their wardrobe.

George escorted Malfoy out of his bedroom. He'd experienced many hangovers himself over the years. Especially after the war for a very good reason. Friends and family had to monitor him after a night in the pub so that he didn't choke on his own throw-up. After losing his other half, it had caused George to fall into a downward spiral and it was only recently he had managed to pull himself out of it.

As he waited, Draco sat heavily in his favorite blue chair with his eyes closed. The popping noise Missy when she returned made Draco jump. His head was already pounding as it is. He felt a cool class vial being placed in his hand. Deciding to bite the bullet he chugged the hangover potion. Making a sour expression at the horrible taste.

"Serves you right for drinking too much." Snape sneered at the foolish boy from his frame as he crossed his arms in disapproval.

"You're one to talk. After every day of teaching, you used to have a finger of scotch." Draco replied defensively. Remembering catching the man a few times when he dropped in for a visit after classes were done for the day.

"You expected me to deal with all you cretins without having a drink or two," Snape replied remembering the headaches the children would cause him. Draco and Potters's rivalry played a big hand in that too. "I can also, actually hold my alcohol consumption. " Snape looked down his nose at the insolent boy. Giving himself credit for having plenty of personal restraint, since he stuck to the once glass after having to deal with those ghastly children all day.

Not even caring about putting sugar and cream in. Draco chugged the coffee black just to get the sour flavor out of his mouth from the hangover potion. It wasn't the best tasting coffee, but it was better than the potion.

"Ok, you are taking the day off," George exclaimed as the blond almost spilled half his coffee down the front of his robes. If the Slytherin couldn't even drink a simple cup of coffee without spilling, what would happen when he was dealing with volatile potion ingredients? "You've had trouble concentrating lately as it is."

There was no way Draco could deny that. His mind had been on other things. "What time is it anyway?" Draco asked as he squinted at the clock on the mantle.

"It's ten to ten," George replied after looking at his watch.

"The shops going to open any minute now then." Groaning as Draco sat back in the cushions of his chair.

"Just take the day off." George stood from the couch to get up to leave. "That's an order." Using his boss voice for once. It would not look good if he let one of his employees get blown up.

"So you dragged me out of bed for nothing?" Draco complained petulantly. He got dressed and everything.

"Well, originally it was to do your job. I wasn't expecting you to be completely sloshed." George replied sternly.

Draco felt bad since George had been the only one willing to give him a chance. The shop relied on having a constant supply of potions to restock its shelves and ship out for owl orders. If Draco started to fall behind on those, what good was he? "It won't happen again."

"It better not." George felt like he'd used too harsh a tone. He knew that Draco was going through a harsh time right now. "I'm just worried about you," He said in a politer tone.

"I'll be fine once I sleep this off." Draco placed his empty coffee mug back on the tray. Standing to return back to bed since he was no longer required to work that day.

"Your hangover wasn't what I was talking about," George replied with exasperation. It was like the Slytherin didn't know how friendships actually worked. Once you came to care for someone you worried about them all the time. Not just about what was currently plaguing them but things in their past too.

"You're a good friend George." Draco looked at his boss with affectionately over his shoulder. He'd never had a friendship where the person didn't want anything in return. Even Blaise wanted favors now or then. "Probably the best one I ever had."

"Just get some sleep. I expect you back to brewing bright and early tomorrow morning." George replied on his way out the door. He had a shop to run.

o0o

Kreacher poked the unconscious body with his foot. "Master?"

Harry groaned as he sat up from his spot on the floor. Yes, you heard him right, the floor. In the middle of the night, he had to puke and had not quite managed to make it back to his bed.

"Kreacher can you get me a hangover potion?" Harry asked as he propped himself up against the wall. With a glare, the elf went to retrieve the potion. The house elf seemed really unimpressed with his master's undignified actions.

When the elf returned, he dropped the potion in his lap instead of actually handing it to him. Kreacher had his ways of showing his master when he disapproved of something. "Thank you," Harry grumbled to the elf's retreating back. Pulling the cork out, he drained the small vile. When Harry drank the potion, he gagged at the horrible taste. He put a hand over his mouth to try and keep it down.

Once he didn't think the potion was going to make another appearance, Harry tried to stand up. Most of his symptoms disappeared but not all. Luckily Harry had the weekend off.

Now that his head was clearer Harry noticed how disgusting his mouth tasted. He had to brush his teeth before he did anything else.

Making his way back down the hall to the washroom. Opening the medicine cabinet he retrieved his toothbrush and squeezed some toothpaste onto the bristles. He quickly scrubbed his teeth clean, trying to get rid of the taste of alcohol, sick, and hangover potion.

While Harry was looking at himself in the mirror, the events of the night before started to come back to him. Spitting out the toothpaste into the sink, Harry leaned his hands of the rim of the sink.

Remembering what he had done the night before Harry covered his face with his hands. Harry couldn't believe he had actually ended up kissing a boy last night. Not just any male, though, it just had to be Draco Malfoy.

.0.

Sleeping for a couple hours to get over his hangover, eventually Draco woke up feeling close to normal. After showing and having something to eat, he felt like he was finally ready to start his day. Since George had commanded him to take the day off work, Draco had nothing better to do than climb back into bed.

After laying across the covers, staring at the ceiling unable to fall asleep Draco sighed with frustration. Draco had never been good at doing nothing. He quickly grew bored if there wasn't anything to entertain him. After sleeping for hours on end, Draco needed to actually accomplish something today.

It had already grown dark by the time Draco decided to sneak out of the apartment. It wasn't too late though since it was the winter, so the sun went down a lot earlier. The joke shop was already closed, and George appeared to have gone home already.

The work room was dark when Draco pushed the curtain out of the way. Quickly lighting the candles. He shuffled across the room towards the supply cupboard.

"What are you doing?" Severus's voice asked out of nowhere.

Draco squeaked in fright at the sudden voice. Placing a hand over his heart. He whipped his head around to see where it came from. He spotted where there had been placed a new frame holding Severus Snape in the room. "When did that get there?"

"Yes well, the Weasley twin is worried about your safety," Snape gestured to his new frame. "Hence my presence in here."

Now that the potion master pointed it out, Draco realized it wasn't the same ornate frame. "Here to disturb my work once again."

"Exactly." Snape smirked at the boys unenthusiastic look.

"George isn't a twin anymore. You know that Fred passed away, right?" Draco wondered if Snape had even heard about the people lost in the final battle, being a casualty himself.

"I have noticed there is only ever one at a time recently." Snape rolled his eyes at the stupid question.

"Just checking." Draco held up his hands to show he meant no harm by the question. Deciding to go back to what he came down here to do. Flipping open a book of common potions, Draco scanned the ingredient list. Opening the ingredient cupboard to retrieve the ones listed.

"Work, is also something you are not supposed to be doing right now. What was so important you couldn't wait until the morning?" Snape asked the boy, who was clearly trying to brew after being told not to for the rest of the day.

"I was bored out of my mind, so I decided I was going to trying to make a better hangover cure," Draco replied as he turned his attention back to the contents of the ingredients cupboard.

"Better men than you have tried and failed." Snape sneered and crossed his arms.

"By that, do you mean you?" Draco asked with suspicion. The only reaction to his question was a slight twitch of an eyebrow. "Judging by your lack of a response, I am guessing that I'm right."

"Shut up and I won't report you to your boss." Snape sneered, turning his nose up. It had been one of the only failures of his career as a potion master.

"Deal." Draco nodded readily in agreement for now, since he planned to bring it up later. Pulling out the regular ingredients for a hangover potion. He figured he would start with the original recipe and then start to tweak it.

o0o

Draco found it strange not to have Potter hanging over his shoulder all the time. The workroom seemed empty without the Gryffindor's presence. He hadn't even gotten the chance to tell Potter about Badrik's little visit.

It had been a couple days since he had actually seen him. Potter was avoiding the shop and the surrounding area ever since that night. He had asked George what Potter had been doing, but the redhead hadn't seen Harry either. He suggested that Harry was probably just really busy with Auror training. Draco doubted that strongly since it was too much of a coincidence with the timing.

He wondered what had possessed Potter to kiss him, what had made Draco kiss him back? He could make an excuse that they were drunk, but he knew there was more to it. There had been an attraction growing steadily between them for months now. He just never expected something to ever come of it.

Draco wasn't sure how he felt about Potter's reaction. He wasn't angry or really hurt.

It had probably not ever really occurred to Potter before to think about being attracted to the opposite sex. Draco thought that the gay factor is what was freaking out the Gryffindor the most. For a couple years he thought Potter was going to end up marrying the Weaslette and have children. When that relationship fell apart when they tried more than kissing Potter should have realized something was off.

Draco had always been open with his sexuality. If he found someone attractive Draco didn't question it, even if they were male. It didn't happen very often though since he was so picky. He considered himself to be bisexual. Though Draco knew once he was older, he would have been expected to settle down with a witch of good breeding and high standing in society to provide an heir. With his family standing now in the dumps, Draco was free from that obligation.

Things had not started out amenable between them. Draco hadn't encouraged Potter's presence in his life at first. Day after day the Gryffindor kept showing up and over time, Draco had grown used to his presence. He was sure it was the same the other way around too.

Draco decided he would wait for Potter to come crawling back to him. For now he would go about his life as best he could without his other half.

At least this gave him something else to think of.

o0o

For the first time in a long while Harry was home at a decent time. It felt strange to sit in his chair while it was still light out. He had nowhere better to be since Ron already had plans.

"Master Potter is home early," Kreacher exclaimed as he dusted the mantle.

"Yeah." Harry sighed morosely as he stared into the fire vacantly. His eyes scanned the items lined up along the mantle. His eye caught the broken porcelain figurine of a dragon on the mantle. Ginny had thrown it at his head when he'd broken up with her.

After the final battle, everything had seemed great between them. Then they finally had sex with each other which was when Harry had realized something had been missing. His mind kept weighing the pros and cons of staying together. It took him weeks to get up the guts to finally end things.

After much contemplation, Harry had finally realized he wasn't attracted to the parts of Ginny that he was supposed to be as a straight man. He still hadn't accepted fully what that meant. Harry knew now why he had never felt tempted by any of the women that threw themselves at him. Ginny had gotten past that because of her boyish figure.

Harry had been in full denial of his sexual orientation and he still was in most ways. He had never gotten up the courage to actually try his hand at picking up a guy to confirm it. The kiss with Malfoy had been his first experience with a male partner.

It just confirmed what he had always suspected about himself.

Maybe Harry was just attracted to Malfoy. Their eyes had gravitated to each other in the great hall amongst the hundreds of students. The Slytherin had always gotten under his skin. Malfoy constantly had since the moment they met and always will probably in the future.

It was just a happenstance that the figuring that Ginny had thrown at him was of a pale whitish blue dragon with gray eyes. Harry suspected it was supposed to be of a Swedish short-snout but over the years the blue glaze had worn away. The fact that it was a dragon was one of the reasons he couldn't bring himself to actually throw the figurine out.

Instead, Harry had placed the one wing dragon on his mantle where he could see it all the time.

o0o

Since everyone who mattered already knew Draco worked at Weasley Wizard Wheezes. George decided to let him work a shift on the floor. Leaving Malfoy cooped up alone in the workroom didn't seem like the best idea at the moment.

With all the extra time Draco had between brewing that used to be filled by Potter, he decided to help out with the shop a little bit more. He'd never actually had the chance to interact with any of the clients before. Draco enjoyed watching the children's faces light up at the smallest thing. Remembering nostalgically when he was a child himself. Draco wished he had the innocence he had back then. The world held no wonder anymore for him.

After fifth year, when his father had ended up in Azkaban, it had felt like the world had fallen in around him. Slowly Draco had been steadily recovering from his experience in the war. After having to sell Malfoy Manor and all the interior furnishings to have enough money to support himself he had hit a slump. After George had come to his rescue though everything had slowly been falling back into place. Potter had been a salve to the injury on his soul somehow.

Verity showed Draco how to work the till. He had no problem understanding the contraption. The problem was most of the children's parents were too wary to actually come near him. Since they were the ones with the money it was a big problem.

Being out on the floor only depressed Draco even more because a lot of the parents gave him suspicious looks. His hair was a dead giveaway of his identity; it was a color that many didn't poses unless it was out of a bottle. When parents steered their children in the other direction from where he was standing it made his mood drop a little more. Draco wished he could wear his hat inside, but it would only make him look more suspicious.

With his disposition even drearier Draco retreated back to the work room. Where no one gave him dirty looks. Except maybe Severus but he was already used to those.

o0o

Harry slumped at his desk. He had volunteered to fill out the paperwork for their latest case to keep him from going to Weasleys' Wizard Wheezes. Of course, Taylor accepted with enthusiasm since it took the responsibility off his shoulders.

It had been one of the longest weeks of Harry's life. He tried to throw himself in Auror training, but it didn't seem enough. As Harry got deeper into his training they had started to move him up from the insignificant cases to the harder ones. He hardly found the time to stop in at the shop. His day strangely didn't feel complete lately till he saw Malfoy's pointy face. Didn't help that he was currently avoiding the Slytherin. There always felt like something was missing.

Even Taylor had noticed that something was off.

"Your still here?" Taylor said like he was surprised. Checking the clock to make sure it was passed training time. Usually as soon as Potter was allowed to leave he was rushing out the door. Of course, Taylor knew who that reason was.

"I have to finish this," Harry replied, not removing his eyes from his parchment.

"Right, you do that. I'm going home because it was quitting time, oh, half an hour ago." Taylor said as he pulled back his sleeve to look at his wrist watch. He had stayed late to socialize with some of his classmates for a bit before he went home. Potter though had been sitting at his desk alone like an outcast. It should have only taken Potter only ten minutes to fill in the paperwork for the shitty assignment they had that day.

Something was actually bothering Potter it seems. Taylor had his suspicions of what was wrong. Deciding to test the waters. "Maybe I'll stop in to see Draco on my way home," Taylor stated loudly so that Potter couldn't block out what he said.

There was an immediate reaction, Potters' fist tightened so that his quill broke in half. Burning eyes finally looked up from the report to glare heatedly at him. This is the first time they had a disagreement since the retreat two weeks ago. They had been getting along surprisingly well. "Would you fuck off Taylor, and leave Malfoy alone."

"Ok ok." Taylor quickly stood and left before he destroyed all the progress he'd made in their partnership. He figured out that Potters strange behavior had something to do with Draco and that was good enough for him.

Sighing when his Auror partner practically fled from his presence. Harry took off his glasses and held his head. He was so high strung right now.

When Ron saw that Harry was still sitting at his desk he sighed. Something had seemed off with his friend the past week. Walking over Ron gripped his friend's arm. "Get up."

"What?" Harry looked up from his report with a dazed expression.

"We're going out for a drink," Ron ordered instead of suggesting. Taking Harry's cloak from the hook on the wall. He pushed it into his friend's arms.

"I really need to finish this report," Harry replied stubbornly. Truthfully he'd finished it ages ago but just couldn't get the energy to actually get up from his chair.

"You've been staring at it blankly for the past hour." Ron pointed out since he had taken notice while doing his own report. The content of his report had been the last thing on Harry's mind. "Put your cloak on. We're going to the Leaky."

Reluctantly Harry slipped his winter cloak on. It had grown even colder lately. Winters in Britain were always brutal and this year was no different.

It was easy for them to grab a lift since most of the ministry workers had gone home. Not many departments had to stay open past six. The Auror office was always busy because it had to be run twenty-four-seven. Since it was passed eight o'clock already the night shift workers had already arrived.

When they got to the atrium it was basically abandoned. No one wanted to hang around after working hours at the ministry if they didn't have to. The lights were dimmed since technically the ministry was closed. People could only get out and not arrive unless they had the proper clearance.

Stepping into one of the communal fireplaces, they both pronounced "Diagon Alley" clearly. Since the Leaky only had one fireplace that wasn't in one of the guest rooms upstairs they ended up closing off the floo in the main room once it had been clogged once too many times by ministry workers wanting a drink before heading home. Several people would try and floo in at once and they would get squished by other patrons.

When they arrived at the closest floo station to the pub the cold wind immediately hit them. "Brr, it is frickin' cold out," Ron complained as tugged on a knitted cap his mother had made him. All Harry could do was tug his robes collar up to try and cover his ears. "Where's your hat?"

"Forgot it." Truthfully Harry just hadn't gotten around to replacing the one he had given Malfoy. He would have to dodge questions why he wanted Mrs. Weasley to knit him another one. "Let's hurry up and get out of this cold." Harry speed walked off to avoid any more questions.

When they stepped through the door to the Leaky Cauldron they were immediately hit by a wall of heat. They started to strip off their gloves and hats. Even though the tavern was busy they managed to grab a booth quickly from a pair that were just leaving.

Hanging their heavy cloaks on the hook on the outside of the booth they slid onto opposite sides. It wasn't long at all before Hannah Abbott who was working as a waitress came to take their drink orders. Ron asked for just a butter beer because if he came home smashed Hermione would kill him. Harry though went straight for the hard liquor and asked for a fire whiskey.

Once their drinks were sitting in front of them, Ron got straight to the point. "Did you have a fight with Malfoy?"

Harry almost spit his drink out at the sudden mention of the Slytherin. "No." He coughed and cleared his throat.

"Just, I've noticed you've been mopey all week," Ron explained he suspected it had something to do with Malfoy. "-and you haven't been slipping off to the joke shop at every possible moment."

"We didn't have a fight," Harry answered, taking a sip of his drink so he didn't have to talk about the subject anymore. It was the truth that they had not had a verbal or physical fight. It could be defined as a misunderstanding maybe.

"But something happened?" Ron asked even though he was sure he was right. "Whatever you did just apologize already," Ron suggested since it seemed whenever the two had a disagreement Harry was miserable. Ron had half a mind to go down to the shop himself and just ask Malfoy.

"What makes you think I'm the one that needs to apologize?" Harry asked defensively. As his best friend Ron was supposed to be on his side.

"Because if it was Malfoy at fault you would have just come out and complained to me about it already," Ron replied with a roll of his eyes. "But this seems more like that first argument you had. Where you mope around and worry about how to make it up to the git."

"Guess you're right." Harry sighed in defeat. He did feel guilty about how he reacted to the situation. Just because he wasn't ready to accept his sexuality doesn't mean he had to make Malfoy seem in the wrong. They had been getting along so great recently. Harry was afraid he had ruined it by his actions.

"What did you do anyway?" Ron asked curiously. They communicated by making fun of each other most of the time so it wasn't just any old argument. When Harry's face turned a deep red he narrowed his eyes suspiciously. "Judging by your reaction..."

"We were drinking fire whiskey a few days ago together-" Harry decided to answer before Ron came up with something crazy. "I may have kissed him and then run off." Fiddling with his drink as he waited for his friends reaction.

"You did what?" Ron gawked at his best friend.

Harry closed his eyes and prepared to be punched in the face.

Thinking about all the times that Ron had caught Harry staring intently over at the Slytherin table at Hogwarts. All the stalking and name dropping. How it was impossible for Harry not to mention Malfoy at least once a day. "You know what, that actually makes sense."

"What do you mean?" Harry opened one of his eyes.

"You having the hots for Malfoy…it explains so much." Ron shrugged as he thought it over. "How you two could never leave each other alone."

"That's all you're going to say?" Harry asked stunned. He had known Ron for the past ten years and thought he knew all of his reactions.

"I've thought about it and decided to just accept it." Ron shrugged as he sipped his drink.

"Really. You've changed." Harry shook his head in admiration. "Hermione really has been a good influence on you."

"What, you were expecting me to go on a rampage. I'm not fifteen anymore." Ron exclaimed as he sipped at his drink. Over the past few weeks, he noticed how close Harry had grown to Malfoy. They were strangely perfect for each other.

"Maybe." Harry shook his head in amazement as he sipped at his drink.

"So are you too embarrassed after kissing Malfoy to face him or something?" Ron inquired as he sipped at his drink. "You said you kissed him first."

"Not exactly." Harry rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "I may have attacked him with my lips, then when he reciprocated pushed him away and made a run for it." He had played the whole scene over in his head a couple times. Harry was definitely the instigator of the whole thing.

"So you made the first move and then acted affronted when he responded positively to your advances if I got this right?" Ron replied with a furrowed brow.

"Basically, and I'm mortified by my actions. I may have been completely sloshed, but it is no excuse to act like that." Harry replied hanging onto the edge of the table. "My brain was in two different places. One was doing what it desired and the other was panicking. I'm just confused."

"So this is more about you denying your sexuality than not being interested in Malfoy?" Ron picked up on the word 'panic' in his friend's description. "I would suggest that you figure out your sexuality before you approach Malfoy again."

"I know." Harry sighed as he sipped his drink.

"I've got to get going. Hermione doesn't like it when I stay out too late." Ron shuffled out of the booth. Grabbing his robe off the hook.

"It's like you're married already." Harry teased lightly.

"It's called a relationship, you should try it sometime." Ron punched his shoulder in a friendly way. Tying his scarf. "See you later mate, don't drink too much." He exclaimed over his shoulder, as Ron shouldered his way through the crowd, out of the pub.

When Ron mentioned a relationship the image of Draco Malfoy flashed in his mind. Harry took another long gulp of his drink before he knew it his glass was empty. Since it was only him now he decided to move to the bar. Slipping onto a recently vacated stool. "Can I get a refill?" Harry asked the young bartender.

The blonde took his order and then poured him another fire whiskey. As he sipped at his drink, Harry checked out the bartender who couldn't be much older than him. He was blond and slender which made him think of another blond. Apparently Harry had a type.

After Harry finished his third glass he requested another but the boss put his hand on the blonde's shoulders. "I have to cut you off, Harry." Tom denied him his request.

"Come on, I haven't had that many." Harry tried to hide the slur in his voice.

"Go home," Tom said with conviction. Plucking his glass off the counter and washing it.

"Fine." Harry snapped, he slid off his stool and stumbled out of the door.

.0.

The joke shop was closed for the night. It was quiet and dark, so much different than in the light of day. Draco was having a lot of trouble sleeping lately. There was too much on his mind. He took to wandering the shop floor at night.

Draco was spending some time organizing the shelves just to pass the time. Children always had to pick stuff up, but they never put it back in the right place. It was just his luck that he was a perfectionist so small things like that bugged him.

The shop door banged opened surprising Draco since it should've been locked. He dropped down to hide behind one of the displays. George had already gone home for the night so it couldn't be him. If he forgot something the redhead would use the floo. His heart pounded nervously as Draco peeked over the banister.

Draco saw a silhouette of messy hair and the moonlight caught the reflection of glass lenses. Instantly Draco felt relieved. Potter, of course it was Potter. The man had a key being part owner.

Standing up straight so that he could be seen. "What are you doing here? It's close to three in the morning." Draco asked making his way to the bottom of the stairs. He observed as Potter stumbled towards him. "Are you drunk?"

"Shut up Malfoy." Harry snapped as he continued to stalk towards the Slytherin. The bartender had made him think about Malfoy so he felt like he just had to see the blond suddenly.

Before Draco knew it he was pinned against one of the shelves. He could smell the fire whiskey on Potter's breath. "Definitely drunk," Draco said to himself.

"I don't like you." Harry slurred as he pinned the slender man with his body.

"Hate you too," Draco replied with his patented sneer.

Harry lunged forward and smashed his lips against Malfoy's. Pushing his tongue past the thin lips. Hardly noticing when Malfoy's fingers gripped his hair. He tugged at the silky blond hair in return as they aggressively kissed.

Draco put all of his frustration into the kiss. This man was so infuriating. Potter says he hated him but kissed him instead.

Somehow Harry managed to get Malfoy's outer robe unbuttoned. Tugging at the fabric till he could slip it off the long limbs. Flinging it around them to land on the floor. Stripping the Slytherin till he stood in just a t-shirt and jeans. It surprised him not to find a dress shirt and slacks underneath. He supposes that Malfoy couldn't afford to dress like that anymore.

Harry was beginning to work on his own robes, but he kept missing the buttons. His fumbling hands were suddenly pushed out of the way. Malfoy efficiently unclasped all the buckles on his Auror training robes with impatience. The robes hit the floor not soon after to mingle with the fabric of the potion robes.

Feeling the metal of Potter's glasses dig into his face, Draco threw the frames away. They slid across the floor. Silencing the brunette's complaints by sticking his tong in Potter's mouth. The Gryffindor moaned and fought Draco's tongue back into his own mouth. Nibbling at Potter's lips, he sucked at the probing tongue with enthusiasm.

Draco leaned his head back against the wall to try and gasp for air. He could feel Potter attach his lips to his throat. Clutching at the Gryffindor's back as he pushed his hips up again and again into his own. Hissing nonsense as he frantically rocked his hips into Potter's hand.

Grabbing at Malfoy's hips to keep them still he ground his erection against the corresponding one.

"Bedroom." Draco gasped between kisses.

"Need you now." Harry grabbed Malfoy's behind and hoisted him up so that his legs straddled his waist. The blond threw an arm around his neck for support. Harry felt his hair tugged at aggressively.

Draco's back was supported against the wall of candy. He could hear the sound of the jars tinkling together as Potter thrust against him. Moaning at the intense sensation. Draco wished they had less clothing between them. He slid his hand down Potter's back and breached the rim of his jeans. His hands cupped the naked flesh of Potters behind. Laughing in his head because Draco realized he was essentially,dry humping with Harry Potter.

"Want you…" He murmured between trying to unbutton Malfoy's pants while kissing his neck at the same time. Malfoy arching up against his mouth as he nibbled at his clavicle. Once he had the jeans open enough he slipped his hand inside.

When Potter's and first touched his cock without any clothing in the way Draco couldn't help but let out a little whine. His hips started to move in and out of Potter's fist as the Auror tried to follow the rhythm he was setting.

Kissing down Malfoy's neck Harry gasped "So close." Against his cheek. Malfoy's eyes were squeezed tightly shut and his face was flushed. Harry couldn't help kissing at the high cheekbones which made the blond shudder. Moving his attention downwards, he sucked harshly at the pale skin of the blonde's neck. Harry bit down harshly on Malfoy's pulse point as he came.

The pain sent a jolt of pleasure through Draco's system and his release followed swiftly afterward with a loud moan. His limbs felt like a rag dolls that couldn't support his body weight anymore. His legs slid off their place on Potter's hips back to the floor. He collapsed back against the shelf exhausted.

The Slytherin stood braced between the Gryffindor's arms. Their only points of contact were their foreheads resting against each other. They stood still, panting from their actions.

Removing his hand from Malfoy's trousers now that the moment of passion had passed. Things that seemed so right when your hormones were rushing often seemed awkward and wrong once you came down from the high.

"I think I'm bleeding." Malfoy's voice snapped Harry back to reality. He backed away from the blonde. Stumbling over their robes in his haste to get some space. Malfoy looked disheveled. His hair was so different from its usual perfection. The strands were sticking up all over the place. His lips were red and swollen. He had red hickeys all over his neck… that Harry had put there himself.

Noticing Potter's dumbfounded expression Draco sighed. "You are going to freak out again and leave aren't you." He crossed his arms and leaning back against the shelves they had previously been humping against.

"I don't know what I'm doing." Harry grabbed his hair appalled at his actions.

Draco rolled his eyes at Potter's predictable reaction. When someone had thought themselves to be straight all their life's only to find out differently, it was hard to accept. Coming from a pureblood family, Draco knew better than anyone. It was only natural that Potter was freaking out a little.

Looking at the floor, Draco leaned down and picked up Potter's glasses. "Find me when you know what you want," Draco said as he put the frames in the Gryffindor's hands. Retreating upstairs to his apartment. "Lock the door behind yourself," Malfoy called back down then disappeared inside his apartment.

… **TBC**

 


	10. Taken

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's taken me a really long time to get this up even though it's been 80% finished for months. I was busy with work for a while and then my brain kept developing a Sherlock story that got in the way. When I've tried writing recently nothing seems to be flowing right. It finally seems like it doesn't have any huge holes anymore. I have two more chapters after this. I hope to have this story finished soon.

  **o0o**

The alarm that Draco rarely had to actually use went off. On a regular day, he would usually wake up well before the time it was set. It was usually there as just a precaution so that he wouldn't be late for work.

Today he definitely needed it.

With a groan, Draco slapped a hand on the button to shut it off. He just laid there and stared at the ceiling. It had taken hours for him to fall asleep. He hadn't had anything to drink the night before but Draco felt like he had.

Images from the night before flashed through his mind. It would be best if he tried to pretend that nothing happened. Draco wouldn't be surprised if he didn't see Potter again for the next month.

Reluctantly he got out of bed. Grabbing a clean set of clothes, Draco changed and walked down the hall to the kitchen. After putting the kettle on to boil, he went to the bathroom to grab a potion. Looking over his collection of medical potions, Draco selected an invigoration potion over some other options. Hopefully, the energy boost would help him wake up so that he could do his job.

Uncorking the vial, Draco swallowed the potion down. He shivered when there was a jolt like a shock, as the potion took effect. He could hear the sound of the kettle going off. Making his way back to the kitchen, he took the kettle off the burner. Flipping the whistle up to shut the noise off.

Lemon-Drop chirped at him. Draco pet the fur ball before filling the pygmy puff's food dish.

Taking the lid off the tea tin, Draco retrieved an earl grey tea bag. Placing the bag in a cup, he poured the hot water on top. The clear liquid immediately started to darken gradually. Picking up the mug, Draco made his way down to the work room. He placed the beverage on the workbench to continue steeping.

Retrieving his notebook, Draco looked over the list he made of all the potions that currently needed brewing. He decided he was going to start with the Ten-Second Pimple Vanisher. Going to the ingredients cupboard, he opened the drawers to start to select the ingredients.

He discovered that the supplies had become severely depleted the day before. So much so, that he was missing a few ingredients completely now. It would be impossible to brew anything with the stock's current state. Only yesterday he had realized and informed George of the problem. Usually, Draco was more on top of keeping track of what supplies he needed more of but he had been so frazzled the past few days.

Selecting the ingredients he did have, Draco organized his workstation the best he could. The only thing he could do was hope that George came back soon. Figuring his tea had steeped long enough anyway, Draco sat down to enjoy his morning tea while he waited.

Before Draco was even halfway through his cup, George entered carrying a large box. "I how those are the supplies I requested," He asked as he put his tea down.

"Yes, they are and just in time it seems," George replied as he placed the box on the table. He noticed the seriously depleted supply cupboard. "I can't believe how well the shop is doing. This is the seventh time I've had to get more ingredients in less than a month."

Walking over to the box, Draco start to help unpack the ingredients. Making sure to put them in the correct drawers. He ended up pushing George out of the way when he started to put something in the wrong place.

George decided to bow out since it seemed that he was only in the way. While George was observing, he noticed something on Malfoy's neck. It couldn't be what he thought it was. He grabbed the collar of the Slytherin's robes to pull him in for a closer look. There was a red bruise on his pale neck. "Is that a hickey?"

"No." Draco tugged himself out of the red heads grip. A deep blush took over his face when he remembered how he got the mark. "I forgot something upstairs." Deciding it would be best to retreat if he didn't want to spill about his and Potter's fervent liaison.

George narrowed his eyes as the blond disappeared upstairs as soon as he started to ask questions. He bet this had something to do with Harry. Every time Malfoy was upset because of something Harry stupidly did, Draco would hide in his room. It had been stressful the past couple days. Something was going on between those two.

George retreated to his office since he had to check something.

.0.

Harry woke to someone knocking loudly at his door. When he had gotten home last night Harry had collapsed on the couch. Getting up to answer the door, the room spun for a second so he had to grab onto the door frame for support. Once again he had a bad hangover.

"I know you're in there!" A familiar voice yelled as they continued to knock on the door.

Harry took a second to collect himself before forcing himself to answer the door. He wondered what George was doing here so early in the morning. With a wave of his wand, Harry undid all the wards to let his irate friend in.

"I know it was you." George accused pointing a finger directly in Harry's face as soon as he opened the door.

"Know what?" Harry asked sleepily. Putting up a hand to cover a yawn.

"You did something to Draco." George accused him as the alleged culprit.

Harry paled at suddenly being confronted for his actions the night before. George pushed past him and entered his house. Knowing he was unlikely going to get rid of George anytime soon Harry closed the door behind him.

George stood in the middle of the parlor tapping his foot. "Well?"

"Can we not have this conversation so early in the morning?" Harry asked, hopeful that he could put it off to another time when he was better prepared, and not suffering from a hangover.

"Early in the morning," George looked at him with disbelief. Walking over to the blackout curtains, he threw them open. The room was flooded with light that burned Harry's eyes. "It's two o'clock in the afternoon."

"Really?" Harry exclaimed with astonishment. The sun had already started to rise by the time he had crawled back home last night. It shouldn't have surprised him that Harry had slept in so late. Then it hit him. "I should have been at the ministry hours ago." Harry sighed with defeat as he collapsed on the chaise.

"Kreacher called Master in sick since he refused to move." The house elf exclaimed as he brought a black coffee with a side of hangover potion. He hoped his master did not make a habit of continuing this reckless behavior. His master took the items off the tray and he retreated back to the refuge of the kitchen.

Harry quickly downed the potion. His nose scrunched up at the awful taste. Taking a few sips of the hot beverage, Harry started to feel better.

"See, problem solved." George sat down across from his troubled friend. "Now let's get back on topic. What happened between you and Draco?"

Since Harry had to tell George something to get rid of him, he decided to stick with the first encounter. "When I came back from training, we ended up getting drunk together. I'm not exactly sure which one of us started it, but I ended up kissing Malfoy." Harry admitted tiredly. He had already confessed this to Ron the evening before.

"That isn't it, something happened last night didn't it?" George took note of Harry's rumpled robes.

"How do you know that?" Harry asked with apprehension. Did Malfoy say something?

"I noticed there was a hickey on Draco's neck this morning," George smirked like he had caught Harry in a trap.

Harry felt like he had been backed into a corner. There was no use trying to hide it anymore. "Fine, you wanna hear what happened. After drinking at the Leaky last night, I drunkenly stumbled to the shop to seek Malfoy out." Harry snapped with agitation. "We ended up making out, and then I freaked out about my sexuality again and left."

"So you purposely went looking for Malfoy and then retreated after you got off?" George shook his head at Harry's callous actions.

"It was a bad idea to go over there after I was drunk," Harry sighed remembering his actions. "If I'm going to be talking about this, I'm going to be needing something stronger than coffee." Harry sighed reluctantly.

Standing up, George patted his shoulder as he passed. "I know where you keep your fire whiskey."

"I know you do." Harry grumbled since he knew he was in for a long talking to.

o0o

Now that he had all the ingredients, the potion was coming along wonderfully. Suddenly Draco felt like someone was staring at him. Looking over his shoulder, he rolled his eyes. "What are you doing here Weasley?"

"What, I can't come and visit my own brother's shop?" Ron said, shrugging his shoulders as he looked around the room. Trying to not attract suspicion for suddenly wanting to drop in

"I'm not stupid," Draco narrowed his eyes. The youngest Weasley son had never liked him. If he was here to visit his brother he wouldn't be in here. Putting a status charm on the potion. He turned around and leaned against the workbench with his whole attention on Weasley. "What do you really want?"

"Fine, I give," Ron dropped his casual pretense. "Had a talk with Harry last night. Thought I'd come and check in on you."

"About what?" Draco asked.

"He told me all about what happened between you," Ron admitted awkwardly.

"What?" Draco stood up straighter in surprise. He thought with a furrowed brow that he could not have heard that right. Did Potter really confess to Weasley, that they had dry humped each other to completion? Because Potter was still in the denial stage of accepting he had gay tendencies, Draco expected him to pretend nothing happened.

"How Harry kissed you a week ago." Ron clarified what he was referring to.

Draco actually sighed in relief. "Oh, that?" So this talk had happened before the visit last night. It was probably what led Potter to drinking so much.

"Did something else happen, other than that?" Ron asked with suspicion. The way Malfoy was acting, there was a lot more to tell.

"That's between me and Potter?" Draco wasn't going to say anything if Potter wasn't ready to admit they did anything more than share a kiss. It was a lot of progress that Potter had even admitted that much to one of his closest friends. He wasn't going to set him back.

"Harry's working through everything. You should expect him to drop by in the next few days." Ron tried to reassure Malfoy about Harry's weird behavior. He hoped Harry hadn't completely blown his chances. Even though Malfoy wasn't his favorite person, Ron knew that Harry really liked him.

"Yes well, Potter already paid me a visit last night," Draco replied as he continued to fiddle with the ingredients.

"And Harry was already smashed when I left him at the Leaky. What did he do?" Ron asked rubbing at his temples. When he opened his eyes, Ron could see there was a red blush spreading across the pale cheeks. "I get it, don't need to know anymore."

"And I don't want to tell." Draco continued to look down at his hands.

"Harry's just going through a rough time," Ron exclaimed with exasperation. "He's usually a really great guy, you can depend on."

"You don't have to talk Potter up to me Weasley." Draco crossed his arms defensively.

"So you like him too?" Ron observed the Slytherin's body language.

"Maybe," Draco admitted, looking at his feet to avoid eye contact. "Yes, if he would ever get his head out of his ass."

"Just be patient with him. Harry's gone through a lot in his life. Of course, he's a little screwed up." Ron patted Malfoy on the shoulder. Never in his life had he imagined he would be comforting Malfoy. "I'll let you get back to work," He said before leaving.

Taking the status charm off the potion, Draco attempted to get back to the work he had been doing before he had been interrupted. There were stomping footsteps approaching the room. "What now?" Draco asked himself in defeat. It seems he was constantly being interrupted lately.

When the curtain was pushed aside there stood Verity, with a face like thunder. Her eyes looked past Draco as they scanned the room looking for something. Luckily she wasn't there for him apparently. "Can I help you with something?"

"Where the hell did George wonder off to," Verity complained, stomping her foot. "I can't find him anywhere."

Draco had his own suspicions. He hadn't seen his boss since he confronted him about his hickey. George was too curious to drop the matter without a proper answer. "I'm pretty sure he is no longer in the building."

"If you see him tell George I'm looking for him," Verity exclaimed before turning on her heel and storming out.

o0o

"This development really doesn't surprise me," George exclaimed as he sat down, after pouring each of them glasses of fire whiskey.

"That's what Ron said," Harry grumbled. "Why is no one surprised?"

"You spend all your waking moments, not at auror training, following Draco Malfoy around," George said like it was a no brainer. "You're obsessed with him now, and you've always been obsessed."

"I have not always been obsessed with Draco Malfoy." Harry denied the accusation. Sure he thought and talked about Draco Malfoy more than he should. So he used to always sit facing him in the great hall at meals and followed him around on the marauders map. Hermine actually accused him of stalking the Slytherin in sixth year.

"You are, but that's ok because he's obsessed with you too," George stated with a roll of his eyes. "There was definitely some mutual stocking going on at school. I think one of the reasons Draco was so awful to you back then, was so that you would pay attention to him."

Harry and Draco had been nemesis since the first day of Hogwarts. They had always rotated around each other. Shared insults and taunting, causing one or the other to retaliate. If one wasn't paying attention to the other, they would make them. Harry knew they had always had the strangest relationship at school.

"You can't keep tugging Draco around," George warned him as he sipped at his fire whiskey. Harry had been his friend for years but Draco had become very important to him over a short amount of time. If Harry hurt him he wouldn't hesitate to get revenge for the Slytherin.

"We're like magnets we can't stay away from each other." Harry sighed as he laid back against the chair cushions. Since the moment he had met the platinum haired boy in a robe shop, Harry hadn't been able to leave him alone.

"I didn't say you had to stay away from him." George rolled his eyes. "You have to choose what type of relationship you want. Do you want to be friends or something more?"

"How do you even know all this? I doubt Malfoy would tell you anything we did together." Harry asked suspiciously.

"You're talking to the inventor of extendable ears." George shrugged sheepishly. Avoiding eye contact.

"Oh my god, you were fucking watching us," Harry exclaimed horrified.

"If you mean, I caught you on the store security cameras I installed in the shop, then yes," George smirked evilly. "No sound, but it has a great picture." After experiencing some trouble of people pocketing some of their smaller products. Hermione had suggested he install some cameras like in muggle store. To catch perps in the act.

"You pervert." Harry wanted to die of mortification. Covering his face to hide his blush.

"Well if you two would just take your private business to the apartment, instead of frolicking in the middle of the store we wouldn't have this problem." George laughed at how red his face had turned.

.

They continued to drink for hours as they discussed. George had lost count of how many times he had refilled his glass. "I think I'm too pissed to make it home," George swore as he tried to stumble towards the fireplace. His hand almost knocked over the bowl of floo powder since his hand-eye coordination was screwed up.

"Just stay here." Harry offered readily. "I have enough rooms for your whole family." He gestured to the large house that had lots of room to spare.

"That sounds like a good idea." George slurred and collapsed face first back onto the coach.

"Idiot. I meant in one of the guest rooms." Harry shook his head standing up to force his friend up to a proper bed. Harry was being a hypocrite since he had slept there last night. Already he could hear the light snores coming from the red head. Rolling his eyes, Harry spread a blanket over the sleeping form before stumbling up to his own room.

Harry collapsed on top of the sheets. Thoughts of gray eyes and blonde hair swimming in his mind.

o0o

The next morning George and Harry headed back to the joke shop. George had gotten Harry to agree to sit down with Draco and sort everything out. As a peace offering, Harry decided to stop and buy some pastries and coffee for the Slytherin.

Since it was Sunday, all the shops opened late except for a café that served breakfast at the other end of the alley. After collecting their orders, they decided to walk back to the shop since it was such a serene morning. The alley was empty since everyone was still asleep or knew there was no point in coming just yet because the majority of the shops weren't open yet.

When the joke shop came into sight George noticed something was off. The door to the shop was gaping open. That's strange George thought he had locked it. Noticing the broken handle George starting to run. He stopped in the doorway with dread at the state of his shop. The door had practically been blown off its hinges

There was glass all over the floor as he stepped in. It crunched under his boots as he glanced around for any clues of what had gone on. The shelves were still fully stocked as far as he could tell. Next George ran over to check the cash register. That was also still full. "That's strange nothing was taken."

Harry placed the coffee and pastries on the counter to be forgotten. "If they weren't after money, what did they want?" He asked out loud in contemplation. The thieves must have come for something very specific then. He knew that George was working on some secret projects for the Ministry. Maybe they were after some of those.

George was a little stumped. Why hadn't Draco tried to contact him about the break in? He should have been here when it happened. The only thing that seemed to be missing… Georges' eyes widened in panic with realization. "Malfoy!" He yelled running towards the stairs at the back of the shop. "Draco you here!"

Harry felt his heart stop. He squeezed his eyes shut in dread. Not everything desired was a material object.

Taking two steps at a time, George ran for the workroom. Pushing the curtain aside for the work room, George froze as he examined the damage. The room looked like it had been ransacked. He gingerly stepped into the room and had his shoes stick to the floor. The cauldron had been tipped on his side, spreading the potion across the floor.

Harry showed up not long after. "What thee hell happened here?" Stepping into the room for any clues. Glass crunching under his feet from the beakers that had been broken.

The empty frame sudenly had an occupant. "Where the fuck were you!" Snape's portrait yelled as soon as he saw the Weasley twin. "I came to get your help, as you instructed, and you weren't there." He had been jumping from frame to frame hoping to see someone who he could report the abduction too.

"I was at Harry's," George responded with quilt. He didn't even think about the system they had agreed upon. It had slipped his mind that Draco was being threatened and that he had promised to keep him safe. George had just got smashed and crashed on a friend's couch to sleep it off.

"If anything happens to Draco I'm holding you personally responsible." Snape berated the idiot. For hours he had been dying of worry. He felt helpless since he couldn't just owl or floo someone for help. It was times like this he wished he was still alive.

"So what I think happened, didn't it?" George asked the potion master, who nodded grimly.

"Hold it! What the fuck are you two talking about?" Harry asked since he was completely lost in the conversation. This development was a complete shock to him. How could they know what happened already?

"Remember how I told you Draco was being kidnapped by two people. Well…" George left him to figure it out himself. Grabbing at his hair, George swore with dread. "Fuck, he's been taken then, and after I promised Draco I wouldn't let anything happen to him."

"Who?" Harry asked to clarify. He had been too upset by Malfoy's mere presence in the Joke shop at first, to even get the details of how it happened in the first place. All he knew is that there was an altercation between Malfoy and some old friends of his father's that George had got him out of.

"Badrik, that fucker?" George spat the name out like it was a curse. "He owns The Sphinxes Puzzle in Knockturn Alley."

"Are you talking about the brothel?" Harry snapped with dread. He had to do enough patrols in Knockturn Alley that he knew all the names and purposes of the shops. The only reason the establishment was able to stay open was because many ministry officials paid it a visit.

"I'm sure that's where they've taken Draco." George paced back and forth. It seemed like it had been years ago when he had come across Malfoy being abducted in the middle of Knockturn Alley. They had grown close over the past few months.

"Why wasn't I informed of this situation?" Harry snapped indignantly.

"You never asked for clarification." George shrugged, as he continued to pace back and forth. His worry was already eating away at him. "Also, Draco asked me not to tell you any details you didn't have to know."

"Why wouldn't he want me to know about this?" Harry asked with confusion.

"Really?" George shot him a disbelieving look as he continued to pace. "You think that Draco Malfoy would want you, Harry Potter, someone who he had seen as a rival; to know that he had been offered a position at a brothel, and had been so low in the dumps that he contemplated taking it, even for a second."

With pursed lips Harry's anger at being left out deflated. "Well I could see why when we first started to interact together, but why didn't he open up to me about it once we started to become friends?" They had become really close in the past few months and had some deep conversations about the war. Malfoy should have known he could trust Harry not to hold this against him like he would have before.

"I think Draco just wanted to start over, forget it even happened." George shrugged, not knowing the true reason. He wasn't a mind reader "It wasn't even an issue until two weeks ago."

"What happened two weeks ago?" Harry realized that was when he was out of town for the week. When he returned Malfoy had been getting drunk on the stairs. It was pretty strange behavior for the cool Slytherin. So there was something that lead up to that.

"When you were away at auror training camp. Badrik paid Draco a visit during shop hours," George explained. "Cornered him alone in the work room and offered him a position in his brothel again. Draco refused of course and I kicked him out of the shop."

"Don't you think I would have wanted to know about that development?" Harry asked indignantly.

"I was going to fill you in when you got back but then you started to avoid the shop for some reason," George said accusingly. Originally he thought they would band together to protect the Slytherin but the Gryffindor had completely disappeared in their time of need.

Harry felt like a complete ass. Here Harry was struggling with his sexuality when Malfoy had bigger problems than sitting around wondering if "Does Harry Potter like me?" in the evenings.

"So we know where Draco was taken already. That's a huge step in the right direction." Harry was already making a rescue plan in his head. His auror training was going to come in handy for this. "We'll get him back. I promise." Harry patted Georges on the back in comfort. Though he needed some too.

… **TBC**

 


	11. Free Will

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I feel like I'm always apologizing for how long it takes me to make a new post. My mother broke her ankle so I had to take care of her the past three months and take care of the house. She's back on her feet now. I got a new dog on mother's day and she has to be constantly watched or she might chew something. My dad took Quinn with him for the weekend so I'm free to spend some time writing.
> 
> Could have had this posted months ago but I wanted to add a lot more detail. There were a lot of characters that I wanted to bring in. I have most of the next chapter written already too so you can look forward to that soon. The ending should happen in the next chapter.

 

**o0o**

Harry dashed up the stairs and tried to open the door. Remembering he still had a key, Harry turned the lock. When he pushed the door open it looked so normal. Like Malfoy was going to strut into the room at any moment.

He knealed down in front of the fireplace to floo call the auror office first. He reported a break-in at Weasley's Wizard Wheezes, and a possible kidnapping. They promised to send some aurors over straight away. Next, he floo called Ron. He knew that Ron had never been Malfoy's biggest fan but he could be a big help in getting him back. If anything else he could comfort his brother.

Throwing a handful of floo powder into the flames, they turned green to show that it worked. Harry stuck his head in and waited for his friend's living room to appear. "Ron!" He could hear the sound of approaching footsteps.

"What'd you want?" Ron grumbled groggily. It seems he had been taking the opportunity to sleep in on the weekend.

"I need you over here right now," Harry said anxiously. "Draco's been kidnapped."

Fighting through the morning fog to understand. Did he hear right? "Malfoy's been kidnapped?" Ron asked for clarification.

"Yes. Just get over here." Harry ended the floo call suddenly so that Ron could come through. Harry collapsed into a chair as he waited. Feeling something under his behind, he pulled the item out from underneath him. It turned out the knitted cap he had given Malfoy all those weeks ago. "Fuck," Harry swore as he felt his eyes watering.

Not long after, Ron stepped through the floo with Hermione close on his heels. He had a feeling their friend was going to need both their support. When he caught the sight of Harry hunched over in a high back chair with shaking shoulders, they both shared a look. This was worse than they thought. Harry must actually really like Malfoy if his kidnapping could bring him to tears.

"Mate, you ok?" Ron asked the hunched over figure.

Harry tried to wipe at his eyes before they noticed he had been crying. "Fine, just worried" He croaked as he tried to get himself together. He was no use to Draco if he was a crying mess.

"Oh, Harry," Hermione said fondly. She walked over and gathered him in her arms. Harry felt his eyes watering again. "I know you care deeply for Malfoy. We'll get him back."

Now that Harry wasn't hunched over anymore, Ron realized he was holding something to his chest. "Is that one of my mum's caps?" The wool was clutched to his friend's chest like it was a precious item.

"Yeah." Harry nodded sheepishly. "I gave it to Malfoy so that he could hide his hair. He was getting harassed when he left the shop." He rolled the wool between his fingers.

"If we're going to get Malfoy back, we're going to need all the facts. So what happened?" Ron had a feeling like he was going to have to take the lead on the case. Harry was too emotionally involved.

"I'll just have to repeat what George told me, because I didn't know any of this till it happened." Harry sighed with exasperation. "He was abducted by Badrik who runs the Sphinxes' Puzzle in Knockturn Alley."

"The Brothel?" Ron knew as well as the next auror what went down in that place. He also knew that they were supposed to let things slide since the Sphinxes' Puzzle was under some ministry member's protection. "That could complicate things."

"I know right," Harry grumbled. It didn't matter if they knew where Draco was if they couldn't get a warrant to go get him.

"Why'd they go through all the trouble just for Malfoy?" Ron questioned out loud.

"Why do you think? They wanted him as a worker." Harry snapped with annoyance.

"What I mean is, there was a string of down on their luck wizards to pick from." Ron explained. "It is more trouble to keep a reluctant employee prisoner."

"The way George explained the situation, Badrik wanted to Draco to get back at his father. "Harry shrugged. "It was more a revenge thing. It doesn't hurt that Draco isn't hard to look at."

"Even I can admit that Malfoy is attractive." Hermione rolled her eyes at her boyfriends pained expression.

"What does any of this have to do with his father?" Ron asked curiously to change the subject away from Malfoy's good looks.

"So that someone can say that they'd fucked Lucius Malfoy's son and that he can't do anything from Azkaban," Harry expanded.

"Why do you think they acted now? Kidnapping someone is a big risk of drawing attention to you." Hermione questioned. "From what you said, they had already known where Malfoy was for a few weeks."

"I think Badrik has an offer that was going to expire soon." Harry contemplated what could have pushed their hand. "Something that was enough money that it was worth the risk."

"We'll have to act fast then." Hermione realized they were under a time crunch.

"It isn't that simple. Before we can even get on the premises, we'll need proof it was actually Badrik." Ron pointed out. They had to follow proper procedure now that they were aurors they weren't able to just jump into action.

"Evidence…" Harry's head shot up in realization. "The cameras." He smiled as he jumped up from his spot.

"What?" Ron asked confused.

Hermione nodded in instant understanding. "I suggested George install muggle security camera's to catch pickpockets. There is actual video evidence."

Dashing out of the room, Harry ran down the stairs. Ron and Hermione were on his heels. He could see George just greeting the aurors that had just arrived. He slide to a stop beside the jokester. The aurors gave him a confused look. Harry had to stop to catch his breath.

"Harry?" George questioned.

"You leave the cameras on all the time, right?" Harry asked the jokester intently.

"Yes," George replied with confusion at first. "Right." He brightened turning on his heel to head into his office. Signaling with his hand for them to follow him.

Sitting down on his desk chair, George turned on the computer screen as everyone gathered around him. He clicked on a file bringing up a list of ten-minute time frames. Scrolling down, George selected the time frame between midnight and four in the morning. He doubted Badrik would break in while Diagon alley was still busy. Fast forwarding through the footage until he saw movement in the shop.

"Stop, there." Harry leaned over his shoulder and pointed at the screen.

George pressed play so it was back to normal speed. They could see that Draco left his room with some tea in his hand around 3: 20 am. He wondered down the stairs and went into the workroom at the back. Probably to get some work done because he couldn't sleep.

"What is this?" One of the aurors asked in amazement.

"Muggle technology," Hermione answered proudly, as she watched the screen avidly.

"Fast forward again," Harry requested. George complied, timing the speed by ten. It was another hour until the front door of the shop was blown in. Badrik and his goon stepped through the broken doorway. In another camera view you could see Malfoy run out of the workshop to see what had happened, and then retreat back inside.

Badrik must have caught the movement out of the corner with his eyes and sent the goon to get Malfoy. Smoke could be seen slipping out of the work room. They guess that was when the cauldron was tipped over. The goon emerged with the body of the unconscious blond over his shoulder. Now that they had what they came for, the two left the shop.

George paused the footage. "That enough evidence to get a warrant?" He asked as he looked back at the aurors.

Kingsley straightened up. "I'll get on it straight away." He left to floo back to the ministry, to procure a judge to issue a warrant.

o0o

Draco woke slowly. The room spun as he looked around. As far as he could tell he was on an unfamiliar bed that had garish red sheets. Draco was confused where he was. It wasn't until he tried to get up that he realized that his hands and feet were tied together.

What happened the night before came crashing back. It appeared that he had been abducted in the middle of the night. He tried to pull his hands apart to see how strong his bonds were. His head whipped around when the door clicked open.

"Aww you're awake," Badrik smirked as he entered the room and closed the door behind him.

"George knows all about you." Draco snapped as he glared up at the man. He could never forget the man's face after their first meeting. "You'll have aurors on your doorstep in hours."

"I highly doubt that. One of the head aurors is enjoying the company of a little friend of yours as we speak." Badrik said with a smirk. For years, he had offered discounts to ministry members for their services. In return, they looked the other way.

"Friend?" Draco asked with a furrowed brow.

"One of your classmates fell on harder times than you and walked right into my clutches," Badrik smirked as he clutched his fist.

Draco hoped it wasn't who he thought it was. "Pansy?" He hadn't seen or heard from her since the end of the war. He thought she had fled the country like everyone else.

"Yes, young Miss Parkinson. She's become quite popular with some of our regulars." Badrik smirked at the blond. Taking pleasure in his reaction.

"It's not like my friends don't know where I am. They will come for me and Pansy will be free." Draco warned the man. "You might as well release me now before the law comes reigning down on you."

"I won't fall for your Slytherin charms." Badrik shook a finger at the blond. "And it Doesn't matter because they won't be able to find you."

"What do you mean?" Draco asked with apprehension.

"You think I'd be stupid enough to put you in one of the rooms of the brothel." Badrik leaned into the boys personal space. "I'll leave you alone to think about that." He left the room with the lock clicking behind him.

Draco paled at the new information. He guessed he would just have to count on Potter's dumb luck to find him.

o0o

George had closed the shop down for the day claiming that there had been a break in. Which there had been though it wasn't merchandise that had been stolen. The front windows had been covered so no one could peak inside and see all the auror activity that wouldn't be needed for a simple robbery.

So it confused him when there was a series sharp of knocks on the front door. George walked over and unlatched the door. "The shop is closed today…" George started to say as he opened the door but then he realized who was standing there. "Mum, what are you doing here?"

"You don't think word of such a big event wouldn't reach me," Molly shook her head as she pushed her way into the shop. "I'm here to comfort my son. I know you have grown very close to the Malfoy boy." She patted him on the cheek.

"How do you even know about that?" George asked surprised his mother already knew the real story of what had happened.

"A mother has her ways." Mrs. Weasley replied mysteriously though George suspected that Ron had floo called her. "Mum, I don't think there is anything you can do to make it better right now." George sighed with exasperation.

"I brought cakes and cookies," Molly Weasley held up a large plate covered in a variety of different pastries. "After all the hard work you have all been doing, I figure you guys could use a snack." Almost immediately she was surrounded by aurors. She slapped the grabbing hands away and then offered first choice to her son.

George decided to let his mother fuss over him for a bit. Truthfully he was upset by Draco's kidnapping. His mother's cookies always made him feel better. He took a few since he knew there wouldn't be seconds. He bit into a cookie.

"Oh you poor dear," Mrs. Weasley shook her head before shuffling around the room to dish the rest of the pastries out. It took her a while to make her way up stairs because everyone she passed stopped her so that they could take a pastry. She pushed open the door to the apartment. "There you are."

"Mrs. Weasley," Harry smiled at the sight of his practically adoptive mother. "What are you doing here?"

"Oh you sound just like George," Mrs. Weasley rolled her eyes. Holding up the much lighter plate. "I brought some pastries that may cheer some people up."

"Did you say pastries?" Almost immediently, Ron was across the room. He looked down at the half a dozen still there. "Why, there is hardly anything left."

"Oh stop complaining." Mrs. Weasley stuffed a cookie into her sons mouth to shut him up. She walked over to the couch where Harry and Hermoine were sitting. "Would you dears like a cookie."

"Maybe one," Hermione said as she plucked a simple chocolate chip cookie from the plate.

"Thank you Mrs. Weasley," Harry said polightly as he took one.

"Have you made any progress?"Mrs. Weasley asked. "It's just awful what happened to the Malfoy boy."

"We have enough evidence to get a search warrant," Harry replied "All we can do is wait."

o0o

It had been a few hours that Draco had been left alone. After struggling to escape his bonds for an extended period of time, he gave up from exhaustion. It was practically impossible to undo magic without a wand. Unless he suddenly developed wandless magic; which was very unlikely. Unless you're Potter, who's dumb luck would work in his favor some how.

The door suddenly opened revealing Badrik who was carrying a tray of food. "I couldn't let you starve now could I."

It wasn't until food was mentioned that Draco realized how hungry he actually was. "I'm surprised you put any thought to my well being."

"You're much too valuable for that carelessness." Badrik said as he placed the food in front of him.

"How am I supposed to eat tied up like this." Draco held up his hands to remind him of his situation. With a wave of Badrik's wand the bonds on his hands were released. Hopefully Badrik would forget to reaply them before he left. He dug into the food with gusto that wasn't permitted from his proper upbringing.

I have quite a few customers lined up for you already my pretty." Badrik exclaimed with a smirk as he watched the boy eat. At one of the busy nights at the restaurant he had mentioned his run in with the Malfoy heir. Many rich patrons had mentioned their interest in getting their hands on the boy.

"How do you think you're going to get me to cooperate?" Draco asked surly. "I'll more than likely bite off their dick than suck it. I doubt that would agree with your customers."

"Oh, I have my ways." Badrik pulled out a very familiar bottle out of his robe pocket. He uncorked the pink potion and took a sniff. "Twilight Moonbeams. Brewed it yourself didn't you." He laughed patronizingly.

"It isn't strong enough," Draco claimed knowing it was the truth. "It's only an infatuation potion. I still have my true will." There was no way that the potion would be strong enough to make him forget himself to be able to have sex with random men.

"That was before I tweaked it a bit," Badrik smirked as he looked down at the boy. "I added a few of my own ingredients. Red rose petals for example."

Draco paled. Having the potion not include that one crucial ingredient was what had made it legal to sell in the first place. Since it wasn't included in the original brewing the effects weren't as strong. When you added red rose petals it became a strong love potion that would give you intense longing for an individual for a short amount of time.

This was not good.

o0o

There was a light knock on the apartment door. Harry figured it must be one of the aurors because anyone else would've just walked in. "Come in."

"Excuse me Mr. Potter, there's a women here to see you." A young auror informed him. Even though Harry was younger than all of the aurors, they all treated him like he was a seniour member.

"Did they give there name?" Harry asked inquiringly. Hermione and Ron looked up curiously from the sheets of parchment they had been forming plans on.

"I believe she said her last name was Tonks." The auror answered with a furrowed brow.

"I know exactly who that is."Harry got up to make his way down to the main floor. The shop was swimming with activity still, though they would probably soon all go home for the evening soon to get rest. He pushed through the crowd to greet the older women. "Andromeda, what are you doing here?"

"I'm the boys closest living relative in Britain." Andromeda answered trightly. "They always contact the family of the victim."

"I see," Harry nodded in understanding. He often forgot that Andromeda and Draco were related. "I guess you've been filled in on what happned then?"

"Yes I have." Andoeda nodded with a pursed look. " I wasn't happy to have my relaxing weekend disturbed by two aurors turning up on my doorstep." She bounced her grandson on her hip.

Harry was susprised to see that she had Teddy with her. "I assure you we all wish this didn't happen. It should be resolved hopefully by tomorrow."

"I'm sure." Andromeda handed Teddy over to his godfather. She could see that the boy was running himself regade over the Malfoy boy's disappearance.

Harry happily took possession of Teddy. He hadn't had much time for his god son recently. There had been other things on his mind.

They had hardly been standing there for a few minutes when the door was suddenly pushed open again. The perpratraitor had their hood up so they couldn't see their identity. When the hood was lowered though, Harry felt his body tense up. Narcissa Malfoy who was supposed to by living in France had just walked in.

Mrs. Malfoy looked just as refined in her travel robes as she would in the finest dress robes. It was all in the way she held herself. "I want to hear all about why my son has been taken and where." She demanded immediently to the whole shop.

Handing Teddy back to his grandmother, Harry stepped up to take the reigns. "Mrs. Malfoy, how'd you know Draco was missing?" They had decided not to contact the mother until they knew what the rescue plan actually was.

"I floo called her." Andromeda confessed as she bounced the child in her arms. "We may not be close, but as another mother, I would want to know when my child was in trouble."

"Yes, thank you Andromeda for being considerate. " Narcissa nodded at her estranged sister. It had come as a great surprise to see the head of her sister in her fireplace. As soon as she heard why, Narcissa had gone to the French ministry to purchase a portkey back to England. "Well?"Narcissa said impatiently.

"If you come up stairs I'll explain everything in private." Harry gestured for the two women to follow him.

.0.

It took a while but Harry had laid out all the facts. "I'm just going to check to see if there has been any progress." He made excuse to give the two a chance to talk alone. From the other side of the room, Harry watched as Andromeda approached Mrs. Malfoy. Hopefully they could settle their differences. It had been months since the end of the war now and time had healed old wounds for some.

"You reached out to me when the war ended," Andromeda sighed with acknowledgment. "I wasn't ready then. It had been too soon after the death of my daughter."

"I completely understand," Narcissa nodded. "No more needs to be said on the matter." They sat together in silence for a while. She looked at the young child who had been orphaned so young. "Can I hold him?"

Narcissa cradled the young child in her arms. She brushed the child's nose with her finger and made him giggle. "I remember when Draco was this young." Her only child had been taken somewhere against his will, and she would do everything in her power to get him back.

…

It was already late in the evening when Kingsley returned. He could tell that everyone was ready to move out at a moments notice. "I don't think we'll receive the warrant until near morning," Kingsley warned the group. "I suggest that everyone go home and get some rest. If you stay here you're in for a long night of waiting." All the aurors started heading out as soon as they got permission.

Harry broded since that meant Draco had to spend more time in captivity. Anything could happen in that amount of time. Hermione rubbed his shoulder in comfort.

"I better get Teddy home," Andromeda collected her sleeping grandson. "Would you like to come back to my house?" She asked her sister tepidly.

Narcissa looked surprised at the offer, "Thank you but I better stay here. This is the first place any new developments will be known."

"You can sleep in Draco's bed," Harry suggested."It doesn't seem like he'll be getting to use it tonight."

"That would be greatly appreciated. It was a long journey from France," Narcissa stood up. "Can you show me the way?"

Harry nodded and led her to the bedroom in the back. He opened the door and stood outside. "I'm sure you must be tired after your journey." Mrs. Malfoy walked into the room and looked around before turning around and looking at him intently.

"That, and I wanted to get you alone for a little chat, "Narcissa raised one eyebrow. "I'm sure you know what I'm referring to."

"I'm not quite sure what you're talking about." Harry shuffled his feet nervously in the doorway.

"Draco has been writing me letters over the past few months," Narcissa stated. "He has mentioned in great detail the progress of your relationship."

"How detailed exactly?" Harry asked apprehensively.

"Very detailed." Narcissa had always had a very close relationship with Draco. There were no secretes between them. They shared everything together. "I won't say that I approve of the way that you have been treating my son." She smirked at how pale the boy had gone.

"I have grown to care deeply for Draco over the past few months. We've worked out most of our issues and become friends." Harry started to gush defencively. He knew at the beginning they had their differences and he hadn't been the nicest.

"That has all been mentioned, but that isn't what I was refering to." Narcissa shook her head, making her silver blond hair flutter.

"You don't mean Draco wrote about..." Harry blushed deeply. He was sure that Malfoy wouldn't have mentioned their physical relationship.

"If you do not wish to take the next step and have a romantic relationship with my son, then you need to make that decision tonight. Before you retrieve him in the morning." Narcissa stared intently at Potter. "Goodnight." She dismissed the boy by closing the door in his face.

Harry stared shocked at the closed door.

**...TBC**


	12. No Regrets

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Really sorry it has taken me months to get this up. There was just something really stressful my dad did that we might have had to go to court over. Got the news we don't have to hire a layer three weeks ago. Just before that happened I decided to add more detail to this story and was unable to finish my new plot points properly. I blame Pansy since I decided to add her to the story. Finally felt like writing again and finished editing this together. This is the final chapter.
> 
> Wanted to get this up before Christmas but it didn't happen because my friend had spent the past week here. So merry belated Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

Hermione had gone home to get some sleep. It seemed like they wouldn't be able to get the warrant until the morning. Harry and Ron both refused to leave the shop where they had been organizing the raid.

As Hermione was brushing her teeth when the wards went off. Informing her that someone had entered the property who was unknown. There was a pounding on the front door. Spitting out the toothpaste, she quickly went to see who it was. Intruders did not knock on the door.

When she opened the door, Hermione saw a woman with a short black bob and wearing a leather jacket, miniskirt, and thigh high boots. It wasn't how anyone she was well acquainted with usually dressed. "Can I help you?" Hermione asked, warily blocking the door with her body.

"Really Granger, you don't recognize me." The woman stated sarcastically.

It was true that Hermione felt like she knew this person from somewhere. When Hermione squinted she finally recognizing the girl. "Parkinson?"

"Yes, who else would I be?" Pansy rolled her eyes. "Are you going to invite me in?"

"That depends on what are you doing here?" Hermione asked for clarification. They had never gotten along at school. It wasn't like they were old friends.

"I have some information on Draco's location," Pansy replied coolly. Immediately she had Granger escorting her into the apartment.

"How do you even know he's missing?" Hermione asked since they had kept it under wraps that Malfoy had been kidnapped. There had been no articles in the prophet either as far as she knew.

"I saw him being brought in," Pansy stated as she perched on the edge of the couch.

"You saw..." Hermione connected the indecent outfit with the location that Malfoy had been brought to. "Oh."

"Yes, oh." Pansy had already come to terms with the fact she was a whore. She had tried after the war to get a respectable job but had no success. Even as somebody who had never been a Death Eater or marked, being a Slytherin was enough for them to turn her away.

"Why are you here instead of at the auror office?" Hermione asked, confused how the Slytherin girl ended up on her doorstep.

"I don't know who I can trust in the aurors." Pansy shook her head. Remembering how many of her customers were aurors themselves or ministry workers. "I know Potter can be trusted if anything else. I would have gone straight to Potter's place but his address is a secret from the public."

"So you want me to contact Harry for you?" Hermione asked and the girl nodded.

"I thought it would be best to go through unofficial channels." Pansy sighed resignedly. "You're my accessible connection."

"You do realize Harry is still an auror in training, right?" Hermione asked the Slytherin girl.

"A trainee with power," Pansy smirked as she crossed her legs. "It makes all the difference."

"Let me just contact Harry." Hermione floo called the shop. She knew they would all still be awake.

Ron answered the floo. "Hermione, I thought you were getting some sleep."

"I was just about to when Pansy Parkinson showed up on our doorstep," Hermione replied. "She says she has information about Malfoy."

"I'll get Harry," Ron said before disappearing from the floo.

Hermione left the floo open so they could come through. She walked back to the living room. "Can I offer you son tea or coffee while we wait?"

"Whisky." Pansy tilted her head.

Hermione pursed her lips as she went to the liquor cabinet. She selected the good fire whiskey because she knew if she served the cheap stuff that all she would hear was complaining. Walking back over, she handed the girl a crystal tumbler that she had inherited from her grandfather.

Pansy accepted the glass and after taking a sip she made a noise as if she was judging the taste.

It didn't take long for Harry, Ron, and George to appear from the floo. Hermione sighed in relief that she didn't have to sit in awkward silence another second longer.

"What did you hear?" Harry immediately asked without even bothering to say hello.

"I didn't hear, I saw with my own eyes Draco being brought into the Syrinxes Puzzle," Pansy answered while rolling her eyes.

"That's it," Ron grumbled with restlessness. "We already know where the git is."

"We have a rescue plan in the works and are just waiting for a search warrant," Harry explained with some disappointment in his voice.

"I wouldn't be here if I didn't think my information wouldn't be useful." Pansy looked at them intently. "You won't find Draco in any of the known rooms."

"Known?" Harry furrowed his brow.

"Draco was brought into Badrik's office and hasn't come out since," Pansy stated with a raised eyebrow.

"I think we would know to check the man's office." Ron rolled his eyes.

"Not the way I mean." Pansy snorted at his foolishness. "Before I started to work there, some of the other girls told me that there was a major renovation of his office. A lot of the surrounding rooms were absorbed and made inaccessible."

"There's a hidden room?" Harry inquired with exhilaration. He always liked it when things started to fall into place.

"That's the theory," Pansy nodded in agreement. "I believe that's where they're keeping Draco."

"Do you know how to get in?" Harry asked eagerly.

"No," Pansy shook her head. "Though I know the name of the contractor."

"How do you know that if you weren't working there yet?" Hermione asked suspiciously.

"The man's a customer." Pansy played with her fake nails. "I think Badrik made a deal to pay for goods with services instead of cash. Less paper trail."

"How did you know that Draco and I are friends now?" Harry asked with a furrowed brow.

"Really!" Pansy actually sounded surprised. "Oh, Draco must be delighted about that. He was obsessed with you at Hogwarts. The rants he would go on about you. Potter this and Potter that." She took out a pack of cigarettes and lit one with tip off her wand.

"No smoking in here." Hermione grabbed the cigarette out of the other girl's mouth.

"Come back to the shop with us," Harry suggested. "We'll discuss it further with everyone present."

"Everyone else?" Pansy raised an eyebrow.

o0o

Draco glared as Badrik enter the room. The man looked much too pleased for his liking.

"You would never guess what I've been up to," Badrik said. "Come on, guess?"

Draco wasn't going to play this game with him. He knew that the man wanted to get him riled up.

"Before using it on you, I tested my altered love potion on some of the other girls. I couldn't very well risk it not working now could I?" Badrik smirked. "I've had great success with other test subjects."

"Who'd you use it on?" Draco asked since he was worried for Pansy.

"Don't worry about your little friend. The girl has disappeared earlier this evening and has not returned." Badrik said as if he could read Draco's mind. "She'll be punished severely later, though." He sighed as if he wouldn't enjoy it.

"Now that my altered Twilight Moonbeams is ready I have owled your first client," Badrik revealed.

In response, Draco tried to continue to lay there silently and not show any reaction. Though thoughts of what was going to happen to him started to run through his head. Draco knew no matter what he said that Badrik would not change his mind. Panic was finally starting to settle in.

"Too bad, he isn't able to come tonight because of a previous engagement," Badrik said with disappointment. "That means that you have one more evening before the fun really begins, so you better enjoy it." He stood up and placed the bottle on a table just out of Draco's reach so that he could still see it but not touch.

o0o

One by one they had all stepped through the floo to the apartment above the joke shop.

"Mrs. Malfoy!" Pansy squealed in excitement once she spotted her school mates mother. She ran across the room and threw her arms around the women.

Mrs. Malfoy hugged the girl back. "Pansy my dear, it is nice to see you again. Though I wish it was under better circumstances," Narcissa said with a dejected sigh.

"I agree," Pansy said as she released the women from her hold. "Draco always has a way of finding trouble. He's too good-looking for his own good."

"It's the veela genes from both the Black and Malfoy side of the family." Narcissa eluded.

"I always had my suspicions but Draco would never admit to that part of his lineage." Pansy narrowed her eyes, remembering a conversation they had in the great hall about it. "Draco always said that he could trace both sides of his family back ten generations with no mention of creature blood."

"Oh, that would be because it was over eleven generations ago," Narcissa shrugged at the technicality.

"Draco always manages to talk his way out of every situation," Pansy said fondly.

"Yes, we all know that Malfoy is gorgeous. How do you think he got this one to stalk him repeatedly?" Ron grumbled as he pointed to his best friend. "Can we get back on top topic?"

"Hey!" Harry said indignantly. Not to the fact that he had stalked Malfoy but to the reason. He didn't follow Draco around in the sixth year because Harry thought he was hot; but because he thought Malfoy was up to something.

"Oh, come on." Ron was sick and tired of Harry living in denial of his feelings. "You can't deny that recently you have been following Malfoy around because you think he's attractive."

"Not now," Harry whispered so only Ron could hear. He really did not want to be talking about this right now. Looking around at all the people who were overhearing a very private conversation. Including Draco's mother.

Ron mouthed the word fine. To change the topic, he said, "Malfoy is confirmed to be in the Sphinxes' Puzzle. We just have to think of a plan for when we get inside."

"You said you knew who the architect is?" Harry asked Parkinson who was pouring herself more fire whiskey.

"It's the contractor actually," Pansy nodded her head while she corrected him.

"Whatever." Harry rolled his eyes. "Can you contact the man to get the blueprints?"

After taking a sip of her fire whiskey, Pansy stood up and walked over to the mantle to floo call her customer.

At first, the man refused to help them because he didn't want to get any more tangled up in the situation than he already was. His tune changed though once Pansy threatened to tell his wife what her dutiful husband had been getting up to.

It had only been a short conversation but it got the results they were looking for. Within the hour the blueprints had been owled to them.

Harry unrolled the blueprints on the dining room table. Once they had a proper visual to work on it was a lot easier to make a proper plan. None of them had ever been inside the Sphinxes Puzzle except for Pansy of course. Her descriptions only helped so much.

After a decent amount of time, they had a firm plan in the works.

.0.

After receiving a few owls from his auror partner inquiring about his location, Harry finally revealed where and what he was doing.. Harry had known that they were supposed to have a meeting with their training auror today. He had owled the auror office he would not be making it but had forgotten about his partner. Of course, Taylor owled back that he would be right over

The were all quietly waiting for any new information when the silence was broken by Pansy's shriek. "There is an ear on the floor."

"Oh whoops," George walked over and picked up the wayward appendage.

"Really George, you should have that properly charmed to stay put so that you don't lose it." Molly reprimanded her son.

"But it is hilarious how people react when my ear suddenly falls off," George said with a mischievous smirk.

"I've almost forgotten that you were ever missing your ear in the first place," Harry said out loud to himself.

"What happened?" Pansy asked curiously.

"It got blown off by a Death Eater," George explained while he reattached the magical appendage.

"That must have been so traumatic," Pansy had wrapped herself around George's right arm. "I want to hear more."

This seemed like a very familiar scene to Harry for some reason.

George wasn't unattractive but he wasn't good-looking enough to have girls throwing themselves at him all the time either. Pansy Parkinson had actually grown into her nose since Hogwarts, or she had it magically charmed. Either way, she was a very attractive woman now who knew how to use her assets. It made it so that when George told his story he over exaggerated to make it so that he was the main focus. Instead of there being multiple Harry decoys there was only one, him. Pansy reacted at all the right parts.

Harry realized it was familiar because it was the same way that Pansy used to flirt with Malfoy back at Hogwarts. He remembered how the girl used to drape herself all over Draco at every opportunity she got.

"I think she's flirting with him," Harry said out loud.

"What?" Varity snapped. She narrowed her eyes and marched over to the pair. She grabbed George by his uninjured ear and started to drag him from the room.

"Ow, ow, ow," George exclaimed as he was dragged to his feet. "What'd I do?"

Verity could be heard saying "We need to talk" as they disappeared towards the bedroom.

"At least that girl can keep my son in line." Mrs. Weasley said with a fond smile. She had always liked Verity for her no-nonsense attitude.

"What'd I miss?" Taylor asked. He had arrived while everyone was distracted.

"Nothing of importance." Harry shrugged off his question.

Pansy pouted when her fun was dragged away.

Taylor noticed the displeased look on the nearby attractive women's face. Being the flirt he was he couldn't help commenting. "What's with the sad face?" He said hoping to say a line that would make her smile.

Instead, the women turned a death glare at him. "Are you actually hitting on me while my best friend has been kidnapped to become a sex slave!" Pansy snapped.

Derek stumbled away from the crazy women to hide behind his auror partner.

Harry sighed at being used as a human shield.

"What's all this yelling about?" Blaise asked as he walked in.

"Thank god you're here." Pansy cried as she ran over to hug her school friend.

Blaise calmly accepted the hug.

"He was trying to hit on me, at a time like this." Pansy turned and pointed.

"Don't be so dramatic Pansy." Blaise rolled his eyes at her overreaction. "And who is he?" He said addressing the male in question.

"Hi, I'm Derek Taylor." Taylor looked Blaise over with appreciation. "Harry Potter's auror partner." He offered his hand with a slight leer on his face.

"Ok, that's enough." Harry grabbed his partner by the back of his robes and started to drag him away. "I don't know what is with you and being attracted to Slytherins." He mumbled under his breath.

"Come on. You can't keep them all to yourself." Taylor complained.

"I don't want those two," Harry sighed. "But I don't think that Draco is going to appreciate you hitting on his friends."

"Wow, Draco really has you wrapped around his finger." Taylor joked.

Harry put his fingers to his temple. He couldn't handle his partner's bad humor on top of everything. "Don't make me kick you out of this investigation." He snapped.

"Ok, ok. What can I do to help?" Taylor asked seriously. Before Harry could respond they were interrupted.

"I have the warrant. Let's move out." Kingsley held the sheet of paper above his head as he entered.

Harry looked at Kingsley with relief before looking back. "Get ready to move out."

o0o

Harry banged on the door of The Sphinxes' Puzzle. Most of Knockturn Alley was closed this time in the morning.

The viewfinder slid open and a pair of eyes peeked out. "Yes, what can I do for you?" A male voice inquired.

"We have the warrant to search the premises." Harry held up the sheet of paper for the man to see.

The eyes narrowed and then disappeared as the eye hole closed again.

.

Badrik frowned at the knocking on the front of his currently closed establishment. "What could that be about?" Badrik asked himself.

"Nothing good for you," Draco said gleefully. The man had just come in to serve him breakfast.

"Stay here and be quiet." Badrik tied a silk scarf around his captive's mouth. With a frown, Badrik exited the hidden room and went out to his office. There was then a knock on the door. "Enter."

"Boss, the aurors are here." Cliff the doorman informed him nervously.

.

It seemed like they were going to be ignored but then the door swung open. "Come in." The man held it open for them to enter.

Harry entered with his team of aurors. "Search all the rooms," Harry instructed the auror team. They all started to fan out except for Ron. Turning his attention back to the doorman "I want you to take me to the back rooms," Harry commanded the man. "I know you know what I'm talking about."

Deflating, the man reluctantly led him to the back of the brothel. The doorman knocked on a large metal door. "Boss, Harry Potter is here to see you."

There was the sound of shuffling papers as if the man wanted to hide something. "Send him in."

As soon as the door was opened, Harry wasted no time in stalking into the office. He was eager to find Draco. Ron entered at a calmer pace.

"Harry Potter, I never thought I would see the day that you would grace my establishment with your presence. What can I do for you?" Badrik greeted courteously.

Harry narrowed his eyes when he was introduced to the owner. So this man was the Badrik he had heard about. "We have a search warrant to search the premises." Harry stalked over and placed the scroll on the edge of the man's desk.

Badrik frowned at the parchment like it had offended him. "On what grounds?"

"Kidnapping. It's believed that Draco Malfoy is being kept on these grounds against his will." Harry wasted no more time by heading over to the bookcase. He started to pull books off the shelf.

"What do you think you're doing?" Badrik asked annoyed at the mess he was making of his organized office.

"You don't think that we didn't look at your recent spending records because we did." Harry swung around to look at Badrik with narrowed eyes. He didn't want to reveal Pansy's involvement. "About a year ago you had your office renovated. We found the contractor and questioned him under veriserum. He said you had him install a hidden room."

Badrik started to pull out his wand knowing he no longer had a leg to stand on. Ron tackled him to the ground and pulled his hands behind his back and cast a binding spell. It was as good as any handcuffs. "You're under arrest for breaking and entering, human trafficking, and kidnapping." Harry read the man his rights.

Harry smiled turning back to the shelf. The contractor said you just needed to tug out a certain book and it should open. His hand finally rested on a muggle title of Pride and Prejudice. Harry stepped back when he heard a clicking noise like the hidden passageways at Hogwarts.

The shelf slid open revealing a small hallway that had two doors on it. Marching in, he opened the closest one and found only material objects. Everything would have to be cataloged he thought. It was probably all illegal if Badrik had them hidden away.

The second door was locked when he tried it. Harry could only hope he had been right. Getting out his wand he cast a blasting curse on the handle too impatient to pick the lock. Pushing the door open he saw Malfoy tied to a bed.

A feeling of intense relief overtook Harry at the sight. Malfoy had been gagged with a scarf. He could hear mumbling through the silk. He was sure Malfoy was swearing up a storm.

Draco tried to talk around the gag. He had never been so glad to see Potter in his life.

Rushing over, Harry slid the silk out of Malfoy's mouth. Immediately Malfoy started to complain.

"What took you so long?" Draco berated him.

"I was so worried about you," Harry said. Stroking his hand through the soft blonde hair.

"I didn't think anyone would find me." Draco sighed in relief.

"With me on the case, how could you doubt it?" Harry leaned in for a kiss but Malfoy started to talk.

"Last time I saw you were running away from me." Draco snapped with accusation in his tone.

"I'm sorry if I made you doubt yourself." Grabbing Malfoy's hair in his fist. Harry pulled him into a deep kiss.

Draco tugged on the ropes wanting to touch Potter. He growled in frustration biting at Potter's lip. "Untie me now," Draco demanded.

Harry cast finite incartum and Malfoy's legs and arms were released from his bonds. With a sharp tug, he found himself laying on the bed with Malfoy suddenly on top of him. The blond connected their mouths again.

"Did you…wow, control yourselves!" Ron berated them covered his eyes before he was scared for life.

Harry froze. "Sorry Ron." Climbing off the bed he helped Malfoy to his feet. Besides the bruises on his wrists, he looked fine.

Harry sent his Patronus back to the joke shop to inform everyone that Draco was safe and sound now.

o0o

After filling out a statement and being checked out by a healer, Draco was given the ok to go home. It was the next morning by the time they were leaving the ministry.

After riding the lift up to the atrium, Ron met them in the lobby. "It appears you have made the front page again." He held up a rolled up Prophet.

"Let me see that," Harry snatched the paper out of his friend's hands and unrolled it to see the damage. He frowned at that morning's Prophet's content. There was a large picture of what was supposed to be a private moment as they were leaving St. Mungo's. It showed Harry pulling Draco into an intimate kiss. The article had all the juicy details of what had happened with a lot of embellishment. "I don't know where they get their information."

Draco looked over his shoulder to scan the article. Pursing his lips at being called both 'death eater scum' and 'damsel in distress' in the same paragraph. He smirked at the picture because of the dopey look Potter had on his face after being released from his kiss. "At least the picture is flattering."

Looking around Harry noticed quite a few stares and whispers in his direction. More than usual at least. "People are going to be talking about this for months." He bemoaned.

"They'll be doing that no matter who you started to date," Ron pointed out since the press had always liked to speculate about his personal life. "It just happened that you chose to get involved with Malfoy, so they'll be talking about this for years."

"Well I guess we're out now, there is no going back." Draco sighed as he tried to not shrink under the heated glares.

Harry could tell that Malfoy was uncomfortable. He didn't like to see Draco's feelings hurt. So that Draco didn't think he had any misgivings about their relationship, Harry pulled him into a kiss right there in the middle of the atrium.

"Potter, what are you doing?" Draco tried to figure out his motives.

"I have no regrets," Harry said with a smile on his face.

.0.

George was examining his front display window with a sigh. He would have to close down the shop for a short time until he got it fixed. Because it was magical glass it would take more than a Repairo to fix it. Waiting nervously to hear about what had happened when he could see Harry with Draco through the broken window. Immediately George ran out the front door and threw his arms around his potion master. "I'm so glad you're alright."

Draco just patted his boss's back.

When Draco saw the familiar form in the doorway over George's shoulder he broke out in a bright smile. "Mother, I didn't realize they had contacted you." Draco released his boss to run over and squeeze his mother in a tight hug. They hadn't seen each other since they separated at the Leaky Cauldron.

"Oh, my dragon. I'm so relieved." Narcissa hugged her son tightly.

"Maybe we should go inside," Harry suggested since they had started to attract the stares of Diagon Alley shoppers.

Releasing his mother, Draco looked around self-consciously. "I think that Potter is right."

They all headed inside the joke shop since they didn't need to end up on the front page of the Prophet twice in one day. Once everyone was in the shop, George locked the door and pulled the window coverings down.

Draco was just looking around fondly at the joke shop when one of the displays caught his eye. He stalked over and started to place most of the Wonder Witch line into a nearby empty box.

"What are you doing?" George asked curiously.

"This stuff is way too easy to tamper with." Draco looked darkly at the bottle of Twilight Moonbeams in his hand. "I will not brew another love potion for this shop." He tried to show how seriously he was about this matter by the tone pf his voice.

"Understood." George nodded even though he wasn't sure what brought this on. He was sure that there was a story behind this that he would hear later.

"I'll help you." Harry started to pack the products away too.

o0o

Since the ministry court system was still streamlined from the death eater trials, Badrik's trial had been organized for the same week he was arrested. There had been enough evidence against the man gathered from multiple parties that a sentence was swiftly given by the judge. Draco's testimony was the final nail in the coffin.

...

There was a sense of relief once they got back from the trial. It felt like they could finally move in with their lives.

Harry shred his dress robes as soon as they got back from the trial. It had been a long week waiting for the trail. The joke shop had been closed as George repaired the damage, Harry was given the week off of Auror training, and Mrs. Malfoy had taken an extended holiday from her job as a shop clerk. Now that it was over it was time for them all to get back to their regular lives.

Mrs. Malfoy had stayed until the trial had ended but had to head back to France once it ended.

"I wish you could stay longer." Draco hugged his mother goodbye.

"I have to get back to my job." Mrs. Malfoy sighed as she patted her sons head because she didn't want to leave him either. "You should come and visit me soon. I don't want such a long stretch of contact between us again."

"I would like that." Draco smiled at his mother who smiled briefly back. Then she picked up the portkey and activated it. She was gone the next second.

Harry walked over and rested his hand on Malfoy's shoulder in support. All week he had been wanting to get something off his chest but didn't feel like he could do it with Malfoy's Mother around. Now she was gone he didn't feel like he could wait another minute. "Can I talk to you for a minute? Alone." Harry gestured to the back of the shop. Malfoy nodded and followed him to the store door closed behind them and there was a long moment of silence.

"Are you going to actually say anything because…" Draco started to say.

"Yes, just give me a second…" Harry sighed as he gathered what he wanted to declare. "You're the antagonist to my story." Harry looked at Malfoy intensely.

"I thought that was Voldemort," Draco replied confusedly.

"Stop saying Voldemort, my life didn't completely revolve around him." Harry reprimanded, then gathered himself again. "Ever since I was eleven you've been there. I always wanted to make myself better than you."

"I feel like we have already had this conversation." Draco contemplated the feeling of déjà vu.

"Yeah, but we were totally smashed. That doesn't make it any less true." Harry tried to get his point across.

"I'm not sure what you are trying to say." Draco looked confused.

Growling in frustration. "I love you," Harry said with anger in his voice.

"What?" Draco gasped, surprised at the sudden confession.

"I love you, you daft git." Harry snapped. "I don't want to, no I can't, live the rest of my life without you there with me. Happy?" Not even a moment after he finished speaking, Malfoy tackled him to the floor. Attacking him with his lips.

"I love you too you speckled git," Draco whispered in his ear before taking it between his teeth.

...

George was going over some of the recent security footage when he came across them. "Fuck again. Why can't they just find a room?" George swore to himself as he watched his employee and friend have sex in the middle of his shop. Again.

0

0

0

With the pop of the portkey, Badrik arrived on the island of Azkaban. It didn't take long for him to be registered and assigned a bunk. He was outfitted in the black and white striped jumpsuit. After being lead through many halls, he arrived at his assigned cell. Badrik sighed in relief when he didn't recognize any of the other occupant's names.

After the fall of Voldemort, they had completely revamped how they ran Azkaban. They had tried to refashion it after muggle prisons. Instead of being locked in your cell all day, they were given yard time to get some exercise.

Unluckily for Badrik.

The day after he had been fully processed, Badrik was out in the yard when he literally ran into the last person he wanted to. After catching his bearing he realized who he had just walked into.

"Oh, Mr. Malfoy. Funny running into you here." Badrik said nervously.

"Is it?" Lucius asked sarcastically. "Because I'm not actually at all surprised to see you." He unrolled the letter he had received a few days ago from his wife.

All throughout Draco's whole disappearance, Narcissa had been writing to him any updates. Even though Lucius wasn't able to see his family members he very much still cared about what happened to them.

Lucius had been cursing himself for getting incarcerated since he was unable to do anything to help his son while locked away in Azkaban. Now that Draco's kidnapper was in front of him he was unable to let the man get away.

He signaled for his followers to take care of the vermin.

 

o0o0o0o0o0o

The End

o0o0o0o0o0o


End file.
